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.
