BRUSSELS — Less than two weeks before a NATO summit, Sweden and the Netherlands said Friday that they intend to increase defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product, in line with U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands.
Trump and his NATO counterparts meet for a summit in the Netherlands on June 24-25, where they’re due to agree a new defense spending target. He insists that Europe must look after its own security, while Washington focuses on China and its own borders.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that “Sweden will reach a new NATO spending target to 5% of GDP, where at least 3.5% of GDP will be allocated towards core defense requirements to fulfill NATO’s new capability targets.”
“We are in a specific geographical situation where we need to meet the future threats from Russia,” Kristersson told reporters in Stockholm, standing alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, NATO’s 32 allies agreed to spend at least 2% of GDP on their military budgets. But NATO’s new plans for defending Europe and North America against a Russian attack require investment of at least 3%.
The aim now is