Sweden will meet NATOʼs new defense spending target of 5% of GDP, although earlier this year the Swedish government pledged to spend 3.5% of its economic output on defense by 2030.
This was stated by the countryʼs Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Bloomberg reports.
Sweden, which joined NATO on March 7, 2024 and is the blocʼs newest member, will officially declare such a goal after this monthʼs Alliance summit in The Hague.
Bloomberg writes that NATO countries are expected to agree at the Hague summit to spend at least 3.5% of gross domestic product on core military needs and another 1.5% on broader security-related infrastructure spending. The publication notes that this will be an attempt to appease US President Donald Trump, who has demanded that European allies sharply increase spending.
"This is the moment when Europe must take greater responsibility for its own defense," Kristersson told reporters at a press conference, calling 5% "a new ambitious goal".
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is confident that countries can achieve defense spending of 5% of GDP. But at a joint press conference with Kristersson in Stockholm, he told reporters that the timeline “remains a matter of consultation”.
Bloomberg reported that Secretary General Rutte’s office circulated a proposal that set a 2032 deadline. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on June 12 that a decade would be a reasonable timeframe to achieve the buildup. Other NATO members have called for faster action.
- The US President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded that European leaders invest more money in NATO. He has previously said that he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever it wants” with NATO member states that have failed to meet their financial obligations to the Alliance.
- In May, the Financial Times reported that Spain remained the last major NATO member that had not yet agreed to US President Donald Trumpʼs plan to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2032.
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