A group of Four NATO leaders A European Union representative said Sunday they agreed it was time to invest more in defense spending as Russia remains a major security threat in Europe amid the war in Ukraine, and as Western leaders prepare for the incoming Trump administration.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the era of spending 2% of the nation's GDP on defense was “probably history” but he, along with the four other leaders attending the North-South summit in Lapland, Finland, failed to say what that should look like.
“We know we need to spend more than 2%,” Mitsotakis said. He added, “But it will become very clear… once we interact with the new president, what number we will agree on within NATO.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish Prime Minister Petri Orpo, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attend a press conference for the North-South Summit of Finnish Prime Minister Petri Orpo in Saariselka, Finnish Lapland , December 22, 2024. (Lehtikova/Anti Aimo-Koivisto via Reuters)
Putin says Russia is ready to settle with Trump over the Ukraine war
The summit was held by Finnish Prime Minister Petri Orpo, and was also attended by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and European Union Foreign Policy Coordinator Kaja Kallas.
The leaders have been questioned about recently Report by the Financial Times He said President-elect Donald Trump intends to push NATO to increase defense spending requirements from 2% to 5% — a requirement that would require all countries, including the United States, which spends just over 3% of its gross domestic product, to significantly increase spending on Defense. defense.
Trump's transition team did not answer Fox News Digital's questions about whether Trump would push all NATO countries, including the United States, to significantly increase defense spending.
Instead, a spokesman for Trump's transition team said: “President Trump believes that European countries should meet their NATO defense spending commitments and increase their share of the burden of this conflict, as the United States has paid much more, which is unfair to us.” . “Taxpayers will do what is necessary to restore peace and rebuild American power and deterrence on the world stage.”
Fox News Digital was also unable to obtain clarity on whether the increase in defense spending would have the support of GOP lawmakers, given the large number of conservatives in Congress, as well as the Vice President-elect, who called for cutting US aid to Ukraine, as well as last week. the past Internal fighting in the House of Representatives Between Republican lawmakers over spending disagreements.
Even when NATO leaders were at the North-South summit They agree that Russia poses the “greatest threat” to Europe They urged caution when it comes to dealing with “rumors” surrounding the incoming Trump administration.
President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during the NATO summit at The Grove, Wednesday, December 4, 2019, in Watford, England. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“I will wait until I understand exactly what the true will of the new president of the United States is,” Meloni said, according to a Bloomberg report. “With regard to NATO, we all know and realize that we have to do more. And much of what we can do depends on the tools we can put on the table.”
The Finnish Prime Minister echoed similar sentiments and said: “Europe must take greater responsibility for its security. This means that European countries must be strong leaders, both in the EU and in NATO.”
“(Russia) is trying to consolidate its power and sow discord in Europe. The geopolitical situation also represents a major challenge in the Middle East and North Africa, for example,” Orbo added, according to Euro News.
Christerson said spending more on defense is important, in part, so that European countries become less dependent on the United States as the “main sponsor” of NATO's defense, but also to show Washington that European countries take defense “seriously.”
“European countries – individually, most of us, and collectively – need to strengthen their defences. And let's do that,” he said.
Soldiers of the Ukrainian 93rd Mechanized Brigade opened fire with a French MO-120-RT heavy mortar at Russian forces on the front line near the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (Irina Rybakova via AP)
Trump During his first term He pushed NATO leaders to meet their 2% defense spending pledge, which many of them did – increasing the number of allies adhering to the terms of the NATO agreement from five in 2016 to nine in 2020.
But that number drops to just six once Trump leaves in 2021.
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But come 2022, NATO leaders will do it again They began to reevaluate their defense budgets After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, by 2024, a historic number of NATO allies had fulfilled their spending agreements, with 23 out of 32 countries spending at least 2% of their GDP on defence.
Only Poland spends more than 4% of its GDP on defence, while four countries spend more than 3%, including Estonia, the United States, Latvia and Greece.
Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain have not yet met their defense spending commitments.
