“Greece is in the hard core of the alliance countries that have exceeded today’s 2% commitment to the rate of defense spending on GDP,” is expected to be stressed by Kyriakos Mitsotakis At the summit of the NATO which is being carried out in The Hague and focuses on the defensive costs of NATO member countries.
Government sources specifically say that on Wednesday, June 25th, in his intervention at the NATO Summit, Kyriakos Mitsotakis will underline the stability and credibility of Greece as an ally, as he kept his defensive commitment to NATO (2% of NATO). Critical area for regional and international security.
The prime minister is expected to still refer to the latest developments in Middle Eastin the threats of regional and global security and in the role that the alliance is called upon to play in the midst of an increasingly uncertain international environment.
Greece will emphasize Kyriakos Mitsotakis, spending about 3% of its GDP on defense as it faces multiple security challenges. Our country is at the hard core of the alliance countries that have exceeded today’s 2% commitment and is in the 5th place of NATO countries in terms of defense spending on GDP. The prime minister is still mentioned in the country’s 12 -year equipment program of 25 billion euros.
The main issue of the Summit is to update the DIP – Defense Investment Pledge at 5% of GDP by 2035. This target consists of two pillars: 3.5% of purely military spending and 1.5% of the wider investment and security -related investments, durability.
On Wednesday afternoon, the prime minister will meet with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney.
DW: the goals of the Summit- Russia’s Apostation, Trump’s satisfaction
The increase in defense spending by European states is an important objective of President Donald Trump and his government since the first day they took power. And almost all NATO member states are drawn up with the goal-especially because of the persuasion of the Secretary General of the Alliance, Mark Rutte, but also because Germany has already begun to put the burden on strengthening its defense.
NATO officials told DW that it is demanded to give Trump a victory but also to “make a redistribution of balance in the alliance,” said a supreme diplomat. As long as this is achieved, the meeting will be a great success.
NATO is in line with Trump requirements to increase defense spending
“Hope is that Trump will not leave the meeting prematurely, as he recently did to G7 in Canada,” a former NATO official told DW. He estimates that “it is important for Trump to attend the meeting and to find out all the positive actions taken by NATO, which is in the interest of not only European security but also of American.”
The target for 5% defense spending on GDP is very ambitious and can change social balances in Europe: while in many EU countries social justice and economic stability have been a priority for governments for decades, in the future, the states will probably focus on the United States. This scenario, of course, is increasingly resisting in some European countries.
With the aim of preventing Russia
Asked how he will explain his plan to Europe’s citizens who oppose the reduction of social spending for the sake of defense industry, Mark Rutte said that leaders must act now, “otherwise in four to five years we will be in the new ones or we will be really threatened.”
Route’s idea is to cut the pie into two pieces and available 3.5% of GDP to meet basic defense needs and 1.5% invested in boosting security. These investments include new road networks and bridges, from which heavy web web systems can be transported, as well as enhancing cyber security, taking measures to deal with hybrid attacks, civil protection and support of Ukraine.
Spain wants to be excluded
The biggest challenge is to persuade all states to increase their basic military spending to 3.5%. Spain, which spends less money on military spending on the entire NATO alliance, does not seem willing to increase its expenditure.
Other countries, such as Italy, take more time than the proposed seven years to fulfill their obligation. Many NATO members are already ready to spend more money, but refuse to commit to the progress control mechanism, which Rutte also suggested.
The alliance is “moving in the right direction,” Lithuania’s former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrieli Ladsbergis told DW. Like many other representatives of NATO’s eastern wing, which is near Russia, it warns that Member States should take the obligation to increase defense spending very seriously.
Frustration for Ukraine?
Many Europeans are also unhappy with the fact that, although Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski has been invited to the NATO Summit, Ukraine’s ambitions to join the alliance are unlikely to be at the center of the Synod, and will probably not be particularly concerned. Therefore, for the Ukrainians “it will be a rather frustrating meeting,” observes Jamie Si, who estimates that the US has played a role in this.
Most likely, there will be one or two proposals in the final declaration that will characterize Russia as a threat. But US efforts to bring Russians and Ukrainians to the negotiating table, no harsh rhetoric against Moscow is expected.
According to Christine Berzina, a NATO issues special from the German Marshall Fund thought tank, what matters is that “NATO is a strong political alliance and people involved in the consultations believe in each other”.
The goal is Trump’s satisfaction?
The great danger that Donald Trump would not attend the Hague was eventually denied. In NATO’s headquarters in Brussels diplomats, however, stated in recent hours that they had no indication that Trump would not give it.
As the program includes a dinner with the Dutch king, an invitation to golf in the Netherlands and the commitment of the Member States to increase their defense spending, many believe that the alliance’s meeting has actually had a primary goal of really satisfying Trump.
According to Jamie Si, however, the issue is the European allies. “The 5% target for GDP for defense spending is a means of preventing Russia, protection of Europe and NATO citizens.” And he himself, of course, admitted that “if there is an agreement on the 5%target, Trump will return to Washington very happy.”
PAOK: Amateur President Thanassis Katsaris resigned – PAE asked me to find investor and I did that