Leaders respond to pressure from Washington and war in Europe

NATO allies agreed Wednesday to increase their military spending target to 5% of GDP by 2035, more than double the existing 2% benchmark. 

The agreement, made public in a joint statement during a high-level summit, comes amid ongoing war in Ukraine, rising tensions across the Middle East, and renewed concerns about Russia. According to CNBC, the decision marks NATO’s biggest financial re-commitment in over a decade.

The new 5% target is split. A minimum of 3.5% will go directly to defense operations, while the remaining 1.5% will fund other security and infrastructure projects. This includes civil readiness systems, innovation pipelines, and maintaining NATO’s industrial base. Member states are now required to submit yearly progress plans showing how they will gradually reach the 5% by the deadline. This applies to all countries—even those like Spain, which have not yet met the 2014 goal of spending 2% of GDP on defense.

Leaders respond to pressure from Washington and war in Europe

The announcement followed years of warnings from Donald Trump, who is now back in the White House. During both of his presidential terms, he’s called out NATO countries, especially in Europe and Canada, for not paying their fair share.

Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “There are numerous definitions of Article 5. You know that, right? But I’m committed to being their friend… I’ve become friends with many of those leaders, and I’m committed to helping them.”

The pact also reaffirms NATO’s Article 5 principle, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all. Recent doubts about whether the U.S. would still honor this clause under Trump’s leadership had cast shadows over the alliance. But NATO’s statement left no room for ambiguity: “We remain united and steadfast in our resolve to protect our one billion citizens, defend the Alliance, and safeguard our freedom and democracy.”

Speaking to the press, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called the new agreement a starting point. “This is Day One,” he said. “We need to innovate and we need to act fast.” Rutte said that the deal sends a message that all allies are ready to meet growing threats and that the plan will also result in economic benefits like job creation. 

“The decisions made today will make NATO much stronger,” he said. “They also make NATO a fairer alliance. The resolve of allies is clear: we are in this together, committed to Article 5, and we are determined to stand firm.”

Summit participants push past internal disagreements

The decision didn’t come easy. Countries like Spain raised concerns about jumping from under 2% to 5% in just ten years. But Rutte said he believed Madrid was serious about hitting at least the 3.5% portion earmarked for military use. He also noted that “significant commitments” had been made by all parties to respond to “significant threats.”

Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland, described the atmosphere at the summit as “cool, calm and collected.” He called the meeting historic and said NATO was “going back to its roots of collective self-defense as a deterrent to Russia.” He added that both Trump and Rutte appeared pleased with the outcome and that “there were a lot of smiles around the table, regardless of the difficult situation.”

Johann Wadephul, Germany’s Foreign Minister, said Berlin had committed to the 5% target ahead of the summit and was now ready to play a stronger role in European defense.

He pointed out that Spain’s hesitation didn’t slow down the process. “At the end of the day, they knew one against 31 makes no sense,” he said. Wadephul emphasized that the key takeaway from the meeting was unity. “That NATO would stick together completely was the ironclad message from the summit,” he told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick. “The U.S. has recognized that Europe is back again.”

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