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NATO countries’ defence spending is up, alliance chief says

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, June 13, 2016. NATO’s chief says the alliance will agree this week to send four multinational battalions to the Baltic states and Poland to boost their defenses against Russia. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

BRUSSELS – After years of cutting defence spending, America’s NATO allies are on track this year to spend more — an overall increase estimated at about $3 billion, according to NATO’s secretary-general.

Twenty of the 27 U.S. allies in NATO plan to spend more on defence in real terms this year, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.

“After many years of going in the wrong direction, we are starting to go in the right direction,” Stoltenberg told reporters. “But we are still far from where we need to be.”

NATO leaders in 2014 committed to spending 2 per cent of the countries’ national income on defence to meet new security challenges ranging from Russia to Islamic extremism. But only the U.S., Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland currently spend that much or more.

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