NATO's 3% GDP push: Preparing for future threats
Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of the NATO Military Committee, reports the Polish Press Agency that the Alliance's new plans require increasing defence spending to approximately 3% of GDP. He emphasised that Russia does not pose the same threat at present as it did in February 2022, which gives member countries time to prepare.
According to Bauer, Russian ground troops are now larger than at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, but their quality has deteriorated.
"Currently, Russia does not pose the same threat as in February 2022, so we have some time to prepare," he noted, as quoted by PAP, adding that increased investment in the defence industry is necessary.
The implementation of new NATO defence plans requires greater financial inputs. "The total percentage needed to execute new plans is much closer to 3% of GDP than 2%," Bauer emphasised.
Debate on increased defence spending in NATO
The history of discussion on defence spending goes back to the years of Donald Trump's presidency in the US, when he demanded during his campaign that all allies allocate 3% of GDP to defence. Bauer predicts that under the new American administration, a more intense debate on increasing defence spending by Europe and Canada will occur.
In November, during NATO military exercises in Latvia, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte noted that European countries of the Alliance spend an average of 2% of GDP on this purpose, which is insufficient. "We will have to conduct a debate on increased spending" – he said at the time.
Admiral Rob Bauer, the highest-ranking NATO military officer, is the 33rd chairman of the Alliance's Military Committee. From 2017 to 2021, he commanded the Dutch armed forces, overseeing the first four years of significant investments after decades of budget cuts.
