As NATO members prepare to meet in The Hague next week, Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced on Tuesday that the alliance has finally reached its goal of raising defence spending to 2% of GDP, a target set 11 years ago.
Both Portugal and Canada have now committed to spending 2% of their GDP on defence this year, allowing the alliance to achieve its target, Rutte confirmed on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.
Rutte described this as "really good news," though he cautioned that there is no room for complacency.
The alliance must now agree on a new target of at least 3.5% of GDP at its summit starting on 24 June.
Rutte is urging NATO countries to allocate 3.5% of their GDP to strictly military expenses, along with an additional 1.5% for broader investments such as cybersecurity and infrastructure.
Currently, Poland is the only NATO member spending more than 3.5% of its GDP on defence.
