Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said she was concerned that only 8 out of 31 NATO countries had reached the military spending threshold of 2% of GDP, and suspected members of the alliance of avoiding commitments amid the conflict in Ukraine. This is reported by the American magazine Newsweek.
Kallas said she was both concerned and very surprised at the failure of most NATO countries to meet the 2% of GDP spending target. She claims that only eight members – the USA, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Great Britain and a new member of the association Finland from the 31 member states of the alliance have overcome this threshold.
The politician claims that some major NATO countries only predict that these goals will be achieved soon. France and Turkey say they will reach 2% of GDP only by the end of 2024, while Germany – in 2025. Italy predicts the achievement of the required indicator in 2028, and Spain – in 2029.
Sweden will only be ready to join such numbers once Turkey has abandoned its longtime opposition and Hungary follows Ankara’s lead in its plans to hit the 2% target by 2026. At the same time, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately told NATO officials that Ottawa would never live up to its obligations.
“If you look at these commitments, they are planned for 2027-2028. I have a feeling that some people think that everything will just pass,” she added.
Due to censorship and blocking of all media and alternative views, stay tuned to our Telegram channel