Spanish soldiers secure the perimeter of a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook during Defender Europe 2023 at Zaragoza Air Base, Spain, May 15, 2023. NATO ramped up defense spending in 2023 as more members hit a key fiscal target, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said July 7, 2023. (Katie Tamesis/U.S. Air Force)
U.S. allies in NATO ramped up defense spending in 2023 as more members hit a key target that for years proved elusive, the alliance’s top official announced Friday.
“This is the biggest (spending) increase in decades and the ninth consecutive year of increases in our defense spending,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a news conference at his Brussels headquarters.
In all, 11 of the 31 member countries will hit the NATO benchmark this year that calls for allies to dedicate 2% of their gross domestic product to defense matters, Stoltenberg said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talk during Stoltenberg's visit to Kiev in April. Zelenskyy will join allied leaders at the NATO summit next week in Vilnius, Lithuania, for an inaugural meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council. (NATO)
That is up from seven nations the previous year and three in 2014, when military spending became a larger alliance priority. The spending boost in 2023 by European allies and Canada added up to an 8.3% increase overall.
Getting allies to spend more on defense has been a long-standing U.S. priority. Stoltenberg highlighted the expenditures ahead of next week’s NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
President Joe Biden and other heads of state will gather to approve an array of new battle plans designed to defend NATO territory against Russia and other threats.
A German Leopard 2A6 tank drives onto the range during a combined arms exercise in Bemowo Piskie, Poland, April 3, 2023. NATO ramped up defense spending in 2023 as more members hit a key fiscal target, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said July 7, 2023. (John Schoebel/U.S. Army)
In addition, members are expected to agree on a pathway for Ukraine to eventually join the alliance, something that is off the table in the immediate term given the ongoing war there, Stoltenberg said.
While the details continue to be worked out regarding Ukraine’s future membership, Stoltenberg said Kyiv’s status in the alliance will be elevated with the creation of the Ukraine-NATO Council.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will join allies at the summit for an inaugural meeting of the council during the two-day gathering that begins Tuesday.
“This will be a platform for crisis consultation and decision-making where we all sit as equals to address shared security concerns,” Stoltenberg said.
In Vilnius, members also are expected to discuss more concrete defense spending commitments that would make expenditures of 2% of their GDP on defense a bare minimum.
Still, the sharp increase in expenditures in 2023 is a notable step forward for an alliance that for years was in fiscal decline. The military buildup started in 2014 with Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine.
Still, the progress proved slow, and the focus on defense spending, or lack thereof, only intensified during the tenure of former President Donald Trump, who routinely criticized many allies for falling short of spending targets.
Then Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine delivered another jolt to allies in Europe, most notably Germany, which pledged to significantly increase its defense budget.
For NATO, even more investments will likely be needed in the years ahead as new defense plans are put into action. Those plans will call for more troops operating at higher levels of readiness and for more equipment to support them.
The plans are being finalized and will be approved by leaders at the Vilnius summit, Stoltenberg said.
The regional strategy will detail how the alliance fights should war break out, with individualized plans for the Baltic states, central and southern Europe and up into the Arctic.
“To execute these plans, NATO is putting 300,000 troops on higher readiness, including substantial air and naval combat power,” Stoltenberg said.
