The last day of the top born in the Hague, in Holland, did not betray expectations. It was already in the air, but the final document of the summit confirms the commitment of all 32 alliance countries to invest 5 percent of their GDP in defense and safety by 2035, “to ensure that our individual and collective obligations are respected”. The decision responds not only to the pressures of Donald Trump, but also to the European concerns for the growing threat represented by Russia, following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The head of the White House has repeatedly insisted on that the member countries increased their military investments to lighten the weight of the United States within the alliance.
How the spending objective for individual countries is divided
The one agreed today in L’Aia is a considerable increase compared to the current objective of 2 percent, approved in a top of the alliance in Wales in 2014. The new ten -year target is divided as follows: there will be an increase at 3.5 percent in key sectors of the defense, such as troops and weapons, or the items currently covered by the old goal of 2 percent; There will be a further investment of 1.5 percent of GDP in strategic sectors connected to safety, such as the adaptation of civil infrastructures to military use and the protection of critical networks. Investments would include interventions on roads, bridges and ports, to make them compatible with the transit of heavy military vehicles, but also more resources for cybersicacy and the defense of oil pipelines and energy networks, increasingly exposed to hybrid threats.
The final document provides that each Member State present “annual plans” to demonstrate a credible and gradual path towards achieving the objectives of military capacity, with a wider revision of the progress scheduled for 2029.
The text, divided into five points, reiterates the fundamental principle of the alliance sanctioned by article 5 of the Treaty, according to which an attack on one of the members is to be considered an attack on everyone. Asked on his position regarding article 5, Trump replied: “I support it. This is why I am here. If I didn’t support it, I wouldn’t be here”. A few hours earlier, the head of the White House had displaced the allies for hoping for a more flexible and subjective interpretation of the collective defense principle, suggesting that each member country can read it in its own way.
The generalized increase in military investments is part of a context marked by the war in Ukraine and by the strengthening of defensive measures against Russia. The final document also dedicates a specific space to Ukraine, promising new political and military support, and underlining that Kiev’s security is closely linked to that of the entire Euro-Atlantic area. However, there is no explicit condemnation of Russia for the ongoing aggression in Ukraine, even if it identifies Moscow as a “long -term threat” for the safety of the alliance.
NATO support to Ukraine remains unchanged. To clarify it is the secretary general Mark Rutte, who spoke on the sidelines of the top of the alliance to the AIA. The final declaration, explains, does not introduce new commitments, but confirms those already made by the member countries, states, reiterating economic support, including the over 35 billion euros already promised only this year. The goal, according to the former Dutch premier, is a more targeted and effective communication: the declaration consists of just four main paragraphs, plus one dedicated to the next meeting, which will be held in Turkey and will be preceded by a preparatory summit in Albania.
Spain in the spotlight of NATO
Spain’s position on defense expenditure continues to generate debate within the Atlantic alliance. Historically below the NATO average, Madrid has confirmed the desire to respect the new objectives of military capacity agreed at the top of the Hague, while defending a more prudent line in terms of financial commitments. Premier Pedro Sanchez said that the current defense expenditure, equal to 2 percent of GDP, is “sufficient, realistic and compatible with the social status”, thus marking a difference compared to the 3.5 percent threshold indicated as an operational target for allies.
Mark Rutte, NATO secretary general, who confirmed Spain’s commitment to the plans of capacity, but also recalled that the reference threshold remains 3.5 percent of the GDP, as for all the other members, responded. “Spain believes it can achieve capacity objectives with a 2.1 percent expense. But NATO establishes a 3.5 percent goal, Rutte clarified by recognizing Madrid’s attempt to obtain greater flexibility or a specific agreement on economic parameters.
Meloni: “Strengthen the NATO system as a European column”
At the end of the born summit, the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reiterated Italy’s position on the role of Europe in common defense, excluding the idea of an autonomous military structure that goes beyond the Atlantic alliance. “We have to decide where we want to stay. We are part of NATO, which is the Defense System of the West, based on national armies that cooperate with each other,” said Meloni during a press point. According to the premier, hypothesizing an independent European defense system would be equivalent to creating an unsustainable duplication, or even to question belonging to the alliance.
“If a defense of another level is built, it would mean or leave the NATO or imagine that NATO also must have its own army, which today does not exist,” he added. Meloni, on the other hand, has relaunched the idea of a “European column” within the alliance, “which must be at the same level as the American one if we want to defend our interests”, strengthening cooperation between the member countries and among the industries of defense of the continent. “I think the most important message that comes out” from the summit “is the compactness of the alliance and the will of that alliance to strengthen itself, which in the context in which we find ourselves is, of course, a very important element,” said Meloni.
Meloni explained that he had asked the US President Trump and the other allies to “adopt the same determination used for the truce between Israel and Iran to obtain a ceased in Ukraine and Gaza”. The “most important message” that comes out of the NATO summit of L’Aia is therefore that of a “compact alliance” whose members “want to strengthen”, underlined the premier.
What changes now for individual countries
2024 marked a significant passage for NATO on the military expenditure front. According to the estimates of the Atlantic alliance, last year 22 of the 32 member countries reached or exceeded the threshold of 2 percent of the GDP intended for defense, a long -term goal discussed and never fully respected until a few years ago.
Overall, the combined expenditure of NATO members reached 2.61 percent of the aggregate GDP of the alliance. But the middle figure hides strong disparities between individual states. Poland has distinguished itself as the country with the highest expenditure, exceeding 4 percent of GDP, a value that reflects the growing attention to safety along the eastern side of Europe. At the opposite extreme, Spain stopped under 1.3 percent, well below the common objective.
