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NATO's Stoltenberg expects allies to lift defense spending target

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General

25 January 2023 11:58 (UTC +04:00)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expects the alliance's member states to raise their current spending target on the defense of 2% of national output when they meet for a summit in Vilnius in July, he told a German newspaper, Die Welt, APA reports citing Reuters.

"I assume there will be a new target for defense spending when we meet for the NATO summit in Vilnius in July this year," Stoltenberg told Welt.

"The two percent target was initially for a decade, so until 2024, so we have to update it now."

Stoltenberg said he could not say what the member states would agree on. "But I assume it will be a more ambitious target than before, because everybody sees that we need to invest more," he added.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year, many allies have increased their military spending.