NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday that member nations should present clear plans to reach the 5% defense spending goal at the upcoming Ankara summit.
Rutte said that European NATO allies and Canada have already increased their overall defense spending to around 4% of their gross domestic product.
"Last year, European Allies and Canada spent nearly 20% more on core defense than they had the year before. Looking at 2025 and 2026 combined, that's $258 billion dollars in extra investment," Rutte told reporters on the eve of a summit of NATO leaders in Ankara.
"And the trend continues."
At their summit last year, NATO countries agreed to increase overall defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, with 3.5% for core defense investments and a further 1.5% of GDP on security-related items.
"Here in Ankara, I expect nations to present clear, concrete and credible plans to reach that 5% goal. And the evidence we see so far is impressive," Rutte said.
"Just one year into a 10-year project, we see that European Allies and Canada are already investing around 4% of their GDP in defense and security."
Rutte also said NATO countries will announce "tens of billions of dollars in new contracts" at a forum with the defense industry Tuesday.
