At the moment, 22 of the 32 members meet or exceed NATO’s current 2% target.
NATO members need to increase their air and missile defenses by 400% to counter the threat from Russia, the head of the military alliance said Monday, warning that Moscow could be ready to attack it within five years.
Secretary-General Mark Rutte said during a visit to London that he expects the 32 NATO members to agree to a big hike in military spending at a summit in the Netherlands this month.
Speaking at the Chatham House think tank, Rutte said Russia is outpacing the far bigger NATO in producing ammunition, and the alliance must take a “quantum leap” in collective defense.
“Wishful thinking will not keep us safe,” Rutte said. “We cannot dream away the danger. Hope is not a strategy. So NATO has to become a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance.”
Rutte has proposed a target of 3.5% of economic output on military spending and another 1.5% on “defense-related expenditure” such as roads, bridges, airfields and sea ports.
