02:10USA: NATO chief says alliance didn't make spending pledge 'to please' Washington
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg commended Germany and other allies for increasing their defence budgets, in accordance with their 2014 commitment to step up domestic defence expenditures to two percent of GDP by 2024. He spoke to the press ahead of the Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the 70th anniversary of the alliance, in Washington D.C. on Thursday.
Stoltenberg said, "Germany as all other allies are now making progress. The good news is that after years of cutting defence spending, Germany and all other allies are adding billions to their defence budgets. So I welcome the progress we have seen, increased investments from Germany, but, of course, I expect more from all allies."
According to Stoltenberg, European allies and Canada have added $41 billion (€36.5 billion) to their defence budgets in the last two years, with over $100 billion (€89.1 billion) spent by the end of 2020.
The NATO secretary general also stressed that the alliance "didn't make this pledge to please the United States, we made it because we live in a more unpredictable and uncertain world."
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused European allies of freeloading and criticised them for their slow progress in meeting the two-percent-of-GDP target set by 2024.
02:10mandatory credit: nato tv
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg commended Germany and other allies for increasing their defence budgets, in accordance with their 2014 commitment to step up domestic defence expenditures to two percent of GDP by 2024. He spoke to the press ahead of the Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the 70th anniversary of the alliance, in Washington D.C. on Thursday.
Stoltenberg said, "Germany as all other allies are now making progress. The good news is that after years of cutting defence spending, Germany and all other allies are adding billions to their defence budgets. So I welcome the progress we have seen, increased investments from Germany, but, of course, I expect more from all allies."
According to Stoltenberg, European allies and Canada have added $41 billion (€36.5 billion) to their defence budgets in the last two years, with over $100 billion (€89.1 billion) spent by the end of 2020.
The NATO secretary general also stressed that the alliance "didn't make this pledge to please the United States, we made it because we live in a more unpredictable and uncertain world."
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused European allies of freeloading and criticised them for their slow progress in meeting the two-percent-of-GDP target set by 2024.