[By Guancha Observer Network, Shao Yun]

The NATO Summit is approaching in June, and both the NATO leadership and the United States are exerting pressure on member states to increase defense budget expenditures to 5% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with 3.5% for "pure defense" and the remaining 1.5% for related security expenditures. According to a report by Reuters on May 5, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles reiterated that Spain remains committed to maintaining its military spending target at 2%.

The report stated that Robles indicated that Spain will not veto the resolution to raise the defense spending target at the NATO summit to be held on the 24th and 25th of this month, but Spain believes that "2% spending is sufficient to fulfill our commitments." She added, "What's important is that each country can achieve the goals it has set."

Reuters pointed out that Robles made this statement as NATO leadership and the United States continue to "apply pressure" on this Mediterranean country to increase its defense spending targets.

According to a report by CNBC on May 5, NATO defense ministers held a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss how to comprehensively enhance the alliance's defensive capabilities and prepare for the leaders' summit in June. CNBC reported that increasing defense spending was the main topic of the meeting on the 5th.

On June 5, 2025, in Brussels, Belgium, U.S. Secretary of Defense Hegerseth and NATO Secretary General Rutt expressed statements regarding the NATO defense ministers' conference at NATO headquarters. Visual China

According to Agence France-Presse, U.S. Secretary of Defense Hegerseth told the media after the meeting that NATO member states have come very close to reaching a consensus on the 5% defense spending commitment. NATO Secretary General Rutt also told the media on the same day that he had confidence in countries reaching an agreement on military spending targets at the summit. Rutt praised the United States for its "steadfast commitment" to NATO and said he "looks forward to European and Canadian allies following suit."

"We believe that in a few weeks, NATO will commit to a 5% military spending target - 3.5% for pure military spending and another 1.5% for infrastructure construction and related defense activities," Hegerseth said. "There are still some countries that have not fully achieved this goal; I won't name them... This is just between friends here. We will get them there."

It is known that 5% is a compromise proposal currently put forward by Rutt, which suggests raising defense-related spending to 5% of GDP by 2032, but only 3.5% will be used for "pure defense," while the remaining 1.5% will be invested in security infrastructure for cyber warfare and intelligence building.

CNBC pointed out that defense spending has long been a controversial issue within NATO, with former U.S. President Donald Trump particularly dissatisfied. During his first term, Trump repeatedly accused some NATO allies of "taking advantage of the U.S." and threatened to withdraw from the alliance if other member states did not increase their military spending as a percentage of GDP.

Since the beginning of Trump's first term, overall defense spending by NATO members has increased significantly. Some member states far exceeded the 2% target, but many countries have failed to meet the mark for years. It is known that in 2018, when Trump criticized NATO most intensely, only six member states, including the U.S., met the 2% target among the 32 NATO members; by 2024, this number rose to 23.

Among those who exceeded the target were Poland, Estonia, the United States, Latvia, and Greece, but major economies such as Canada, Spain, and Italy remained below the mark.

Number of NATO member countries achieving 2% of GDP in defense spending from 2014 to 2024. The Telegraph chart

Currently, the UK, Poland, and Germany have expressed support for increasing defense spending, but it remains unclear whether they can reach an agreement on specific timelines. For instance, the British government stated this week that its goal is to increase defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and aims to raise it to 3% during the next parliamentary session (by 2034). Germany has lagged behind in defense spending and only reached the 2% target in 2024. Last week, before German Chancellor Merz's meeting with Trump, Germany also expressed support for raising defense spending to 5%.

However, Spain and Italy are considered the main forces opposing the 5% target among member states, as these two countries have only committed to reaching the 2% threshold by 2025. To this end, Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez announced a plan in April to increase military spending by 1.05 billion euros this year. However, Spain's defense spending in 2024 still accounts for only 1.3% of GDP, the lowest proportion among NATO member states, thus facing continued pressure to further increase military spending.

Meanwhile, NATO estimates that Canada's defense spending in 2024 will account for 1.3% of GDP, lower than even Italy, Portugal, or Montenegro.

Previously, some British media outlets pointed out that raising the military spending target to 5% would mean that many NATO member states need to more than double their current defense spending, imposing a heavy budgetary burden. According to calculations by Britain's The Telegraph, even raising it to 3.5% would cost billions of pounds and force member states to sacrifice domestic budgets.

This article is an exclusive contribution by the Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7512493747482772031/

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