The interim cabinet of Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof has agreed to increase the country's defense and security spending to 5% of national gross domestic product by 2032, in line with the proposed target of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This was reported by Bloomberg, reports UNN.
Details
The Dutch government, which lost its parliamentary majority last week, is due to host the NATO summit on June 24-25 in The Hague. It is expected to be attended by US President Donald Trump, who has demanded that allies increase defense spending to 5% of national GDP after threatening to leave the alliance.
We have agreed on 5% of GDP, of which 3.5% is for basic defense spending and 1.5% for broader security, but we are still open to discussion about the exact year and the exact path to growth for this. Some countries may need flexibility in terms of timing
NATO leaders at the summit intend to adopt this figure as a goal for members of the Organization. It even exceeds US defense spending. Achieving this goal is expected to cost the Netherlands up to 19 billion euros ($22 billion).
This decision by the country's government could lead to a conflict with parliament, which last week opposed the new NATO target in a non-binding vote. It plans to discuss the issue again on Tuesday.
Without the support of a parliamentary majority, Schoof will host the summit without significant powers to implement its main goal.
The Cabinet of Ministers has made a decision, but we still need to discuss this issue in Parliament
Let us remind you
NATO countries plan to take into account new funds spent on strengthening the Armed Forces of Ukraine - as defense spending as part of the Alliance's proposal to increase its defense spending to 5% of GDP.
Britain will be forced to sign an agreement to increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 at the NATO summit this month. This will take place as part of the alliance's secretary general's campaign to support cooperation with the administration of US President Donald Trump.