At least three NATO countries spend too little on defense
Three NATO countries are spending less on defense than agreed, according to NATO sources. The Czech Republic, Slovenia and Albania fell short of the minimum required level last year, while they must now prepare for an even higher defense budget.
NATO announced in March with satisfaction that all member states had spent at least 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defense by 2025, Dutch media reported.
Ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague last summer, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte put great pressure on the countries that had fallen behind to finally meet this minimum 2% threshold. Otherwise, they and NATO itself risked facing the wrath of US President Donald Trump.
However, after a detailed financial audit by NATO, it was discovered that three countries had not actually achieved the target. According to a senior official, they had included in the calculations expenses that are not allowed to be counted as defense spending.
According to a NATO source, Albania and Slovenia in particular performed poorly, coming in around 0.5 percentage points below the required level.
Internal sources say that these three countries risk not reaching the 2% threshold again this year. There are also concerns about Hungary.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth may take measures against allies that fail to meet their obligations, as well as against NATO itself.
The United States is considering reducing its financial contribution to NATO. It currently covers about 15% of the NATO budget, which funds the alliance's headquarters, missions and exercises.
According to some sources, Albania may even face the risk of not being allowed to organize the next NATO summit.
"According to NATO sources, Albania, Slovenia and the Czech Republic did not actually reach the 2% of GDP target for defense last year, despite initial statements that all member states had met it. Albania and Slovenia are said to have been among the countries with the greatest deviation from the target," the article explains.
