NATO set to agree on 5% defence spending target
發佈日期: 2025-06-25 19:52
TVB News
The two-day NATO summit has kicked off in The Hague.
Leaders of the alliance's 32 members will discuss potential hikes in defence spending to deter the threat posed by Russia.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has praised U.S. President Donald Trump's strikes on Iran and said the decision "makes us all safer."
U.S. President Donald Trump swept into the NATO gathering in The Hague, the home city of the alliance's Secretary General Mark Rutte.
NATO Leaders are expected to decide unanimously to raise the alliance's defence spending target to 5 percent of gross domestic product, up from the current goal of 2 percent of GDP, over the next 10 years.
However, Spain declared it would not be able to reach the "unreasonable" target by the 2035 deadline.
Trump praised the 5 percent defence spending pledges, but didn't say it should apply to the U.S. while confirming commitment to NATO's Article 5.
The summit comes just days after Trump announced an Israel-Iran ceasefire following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
(Reporter: Mr. President, how is the Iran-Israel ceasefire going in your opinion? )
Trump said: "I think very good, I think very good, Israel came back yesterday, I was so proud of them."
On Tuesday, Trump shared messages sent by Rutte which commended his "extraodinary" military strikes against Iran. Rutte said it was a decision that "no one else dared to do" and "makes us all safer."
He added Trump's call for hiking NATO's defence spending is starting to bear fruit, noting "It was not easy but we've got them signed on to 5 percent."
Rutte further stated Trump has driven them to an important moment for America, Europe and the world, and asserted that he will achieve something no U.S. president in decades could get done.
The NATO Secretary-General downplayed concerns about Trump making the messages public. He told reporters there's nothing to be kept secret.
(Reporter: What do you think is Trump's motivation to publish a private conversation?)
Rutte replied: "I don't know, but I have absolutely no trouble and no problem with that. Because there is nothing in it which has to stay secret. Without him, it would never have happened this year, let's be honest."
He explained that "When it comes to the 5 percent, we have to do this because of the capability targets. We have to keep ourselves safe from the Russians, but the good news is that it's also equalizing what we are spending here in Europe and Canada with what the U.S. is spending.
