Nato set to agree big spike in defence spending at ‘historic summit’

NATO leaders meet in The Hague to decide to go up defense spending to 5% of their country’s economic production, after months of pressure from US President Donald Trump.

“For too long, an ally, the United States, has carried too much charge,” said secretary general Mark Rutte in the opening remarks in which he praised Trump for his management. “It changes today.”

The Hague summit was described by several leaders as historic, and Rutte said that the decisions made on Wednesday include continuous support for Ukraine while putting pressure for peace.

Only Spain rejected the objective of spending 3.5% in defense by 2035, with an additional 1.5% on related projects.

The American president said on Wednesday that it was a “big victory for everyone, I think. We will be equalized shortly, and that is how he must be”.

The Minister of the Spanish economy, Carlos Cuerpo, seemed to double his 5%objective, saying that Madrid made an “enormous effort” to achieve a target of 2.1%. “The discussion on the percentage is wrong,” he said on Spanish radio.

The Belgian government had also expressed reserves, but Prime Minister Bart de Wever told journalists that even if it would not be easy “3.5% in the 10 years is a realistic objective”.

The summit of The Hague, which started with a dinner on Tuesday evening, organized by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, was reduced so that the rally of Wednesday leaders was due to only two and a half hours, with a short press release agreed at the end.

Rutte told NATO leaders whom they met at a “dangerous moment” and that the guarantee of the mutual defense of the Defense Alliance – “one attack on one is an attack on all, sends a powerful message”.

While the leaders met for the traditional “family photo”, the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez seemed to stand alone at the bottom of the group.

Slovakia has also raised concerns about the great hike in defense expenses, but President Peter Pellegrini said Bratislava will not hinder it.

Trump’s visit to The Hague was his first trip to a NATO summit since 2019 and he had to meet Volodymyr Zelensky from Ukraine thereafter.

However, the American president was more eager to speak of conflict in the Middle East than the war in Ukraine, when he spoke to journalists on Wednesday.

“He has a little difficulty, Zelensky, a nice guy,” said Trump. “I spoke a lot to Putin … He did help on Iran. I said to be a favor, to help us on Russia, not Iran.”

The American president had previously seemed to raise questions about the mutual defense guarantee of the Alliance, known as article five.

“There are many definitions of article five, you know, right?” He told journalists on Air Force One on Tuesday.

Mark Rutte then sought to cancel the concerns about Trump’s comments, insisting that his European colleagues should stop worrying about the American commitment to the Western alliance and to focus on investment in the defense and support of Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said NATO was as relevant and important now as never: “We live in a very volatile world and today, it is NATO unity, showing this force. We are larger than before, we are stronger than before.”