Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – European Council President Antonio Costa said the 23 EU members who are also part of NATO are likely to arrange to increase the defense spending target beyond the current 2% of national output at a June meeting of the alliance that will materialize a new level.
The Council President has prepared an informal gathering of European Union heads next Monday to examine defense and security investment, he told in an interview with Portuguese public broadcaster RTP.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte will also attend the session, he also said. Joint defense spending by the 23 EU nations in NATO already fulfills the 2% threshold after they raised it by 30% since Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, Costa stated.
Will NATO members raise defense spending beyond 2%?
There is a very reasonable consensus among member states to continue on this path,” he added. “I would anticipate that, surely, at the next NATO summit in June, a target higher than 2% will be set,
Costa expressed.
Whether it’s 5%, whether it’s 3%, I don’t know, it’s a decision that member states will make within NATO.
What are Costa’s priorities for EU security investment?
The European Council, led by Costa, sets the national governments of the 27-member EU. Costa, an ex-Portuguese prime minister, also stated Russia was the major threat to NATO and that nations must prioritize enhancing air defense, anti-missile, and electronic warfare methods.
More budget for defense technology and industry will also boost the EU economy’s competitiveness, he stated, adding there would ultimately be a need for a dialogue on “common funding” for collective security.
How does Trump view NATO’s current defense commitments?
Donald Trump spoke extensively about NATO and European defense spending at Davos recently, where he addressed the World Economic Forum. The presidential candidate insisted NATO allies must make a new deal with their collective commitment of increasing defense spending by 5 percent of their GDP instead of 2%, as currently fixed.
I’m also going to ask all NATO nations to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, which is what it should have been years ago,
the businessman declared.
Trump criticized the regulatory framework of the European Union, calling it a barrier to investment. He told a personal anecdote about a failed real estate project in Ireland, where he said that the delays were caused by EU-level approvals that took much longer than national ones.
