The member countries of NATO relaunched discussions on Wednesday in Brussels on the increase in their defense spending, the secretary general of the Alliance judging that the figure of 2% of GDP devoted to the latter should now be a "floor ".
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put this sensitive question back at the heart of the debate and it will be one of the central subjects of an Atlantic Alliance summit scheduled for July in Vilnius.
For several months, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has maintained that significant investments are necessary to modernize the military capabilities of the Alliance and considers that the commitment made in 2014 by the allies to approach 2% of their GDP devoted to their defense expenditure must be revised upwards.
"We should stop seeing the 2% as a ceiling and see the 2% as a floor and a minimum, and commit more firmly to a long-term perspective," he said after a briefing. meeting of Alliance Defense Ministers in Brussels.
“When we see the needs for ammunition, air defense, training, preparation for surge capabilities, it is obvious that this 2% defense expenditure is a minimum”, he hammered.
"I share this assessment," said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
"I think just wanting to get closer to the 2% target won't be enough. It has to be the basis for everything else," he added. “We are in the process of coordinating this within the federal government and we will certainly conclude it soon,” he said.
For his French counterpart, Sebastien Lecornu, examining the content of this expenditure is essential.
"Beyond the question of 2% of GDP, what counts is 2% of useful and effective expenditure", he said, recalling France's commitment to make "massive investments in his defense with the unprecedented amount of 413 billion euros".
But the subject divides the members of the Alliance. Some countries warn against numerical targets that are too ambitious or too rigid.
"The 2% is good but we also have to make sure we have a certain flexibility because the countries are different", underlined the Luxembourg Minister of Defense François Bausch.
According to a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, there are two different groups of allies.
On the one hand, those like the Baltic countries and Poland are pushing for more ambitious defense goals with a target of 2.5% of GDP devoted to military spending.
On the other hand, those like Canada, Spain, Luxembourg and to a certain extent Italy believe that these objectives are not suited to their situation.
“All in all, I think the obvious conclusion is that 2% is not enough,” summarized this American official. "And I would say that the majority of allies share this analysis."
15/02/2023 15:18:28 - Bruxelles (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
