NATO Summit: Agreement to Increase Defense Spending to 5% by 2035

Leaders of NATO member states have committed to investing 5% of their GDP annually by 2035 on essential defense and related expenses, according to the joint declaration of the Summit. NATO members reaffirm their ‘unwavering commitment’ to mutual assistance and pledge to invest 5% of their Gross Domestic Product in security over the next decade, as stated in the official announcement released during the Atlantic Alliance summit in The Hague. Russia is described as a ‘long-term threat’ to NATO’s security in the text of the joint communiqué, where NATO countries restate their support for Ukraine. “Allies reaffirm their sovereign and long-term commitment to supporting Ukraine, whose security contributes to our own, against the long-term threat posed by Russia,” the document states, approved by the 32 heads of state and governments, including Donald Trump. The alliance of 32 nations responded to Trump’s call for European countries and Canada to increase their military spending to reduce NATO’s reliance on the U.S. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rute acknowledged the difficulty for countries to find additional funds but emphasized its necessity: “There is absolute certainty among my colleagues that, given the threat from Russia and the global security situation, there is no alternative,” he said. It is recalled that yesterday (June 24, 2025) and en route to The Hague, Trump remarked: “Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, it was truly exceptional and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer.” Additionally, Mark Rute praised Donald Trump for pressuring for increased defense spending within NATO.