SUMMIT CONCLUDED Leaders agreed: NATO members to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP!

(Patria) - At the NATO summit, held in The Hague amidst global security threats, the alliance members reached an agreement on the text of the final declaration, which foresees a significant increase in defense spending.

According to the agreement, member states will allocate a minimum of 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) for defense and security needs by 2035.

This decision represents a major shift in the alliance's defense policy, considering that the previous target was 2% of GDP, set back in 2014.

The new increase comes at a time of increasingly pronounced security threats in Europe and beyond, including the ongoing war in Ukraine, rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and hybrid threats.

The agreed declaration emphasizes the need for modernization of military capabilities, strengthening collective defense, investing in new technologies, and improving rapid response capabilities to crisis situations.

The decision to increase defense spending represents a joint response by the allies to the changed global security architecture, and the implementation of this policy will be binding for all NATO members by 2035.

Text of the declaration:

1. We, the Heads of State and Government of the North Atlantic Alliance, have convened in The Hague to reaffirm our commitment to NATO, the strongest alliance in history and the transatlantic bond. We reaffirm our firm commitment to collective defense, as set forth in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, that an attack on one is an attack on all. We remain united and unwavering in our resolve to protect our one billion citizens, defend the Alliance, and preserve our freedom and democracy.

2. United in the face of profound security threats and challenges, particularly the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism, Allies commit to investing 5% of GDP annually by 2035 in core defense needs, as well as in defense and security expenditures to ensure our individual and collective obligations, in accordance with Article 3 of the Washington Treaty. Our investments will ensure that we have the forces, capabilities, resources, infrastructure, readiness, and resilience necessary to deter and defend in accordance with our three core tasks: deterrence and defense, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security.

3. Allies agree that this 5% commitment will encompass two main categories of defense investment. Allies will annually allocate at least 3.5% of GDP based on the agreed definition of NATO defense expenditures by 2035 for core defense requirement resources and to meet NATO's Capability Targets. Allies agree to submit annual plans demonstrating a credible, phased path towards achieving this goal. Allies will annually allocate up to 1.5% of GDP for, among other things, protecting our critical infrastructure, defending our networks, ensuring our civil preparedness and resilience, fostering innovation, and strengthening our defense industrial base. The trajectory and balance of spending under this plan will be reviewed in 2029, in light of the strategic environment and updated Capability Targets. Allies reaffirm their enduring sovereign commitments to support Ukraine, whose security contributes to our own, and will for this purpose include direct contributions to Ukraine's defense and its defense industry when calculating Allies' defense expenditures.

4. We reaffirm our shared commitment to rapidly expand transatlantic defense industrial cooperation and to leverage new technologies and the spirit of innovation to enhance our collective security. We will work to remove barriers to defense industrial trade among Allies and will utilize our partnerships to promote defense industrial cooperation.

5. We express our gratitude for the generous hospitality extended to us by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. We look forward to our next meeting in Turkey in 2026, followed by a meeting in Albania.