AFP reported on May 9 that ahead of a key summit in The Hague in June, NATO Secretary-General proposed an ambitious plan to increase military spending in member states by 2032. US President Trump has always asked for this.

  Dutch Prime Minister Dick Shoff said Mark Rutt recommended that 32 NATO member states increase military spending and security expenditure to at least 5% of GDP over the next seven years.

  Shoff said at the press conference that Mark Rutt "wanted to get military spending to reach 3.5% (GDP) by 2032, and the remaining related spending will reach 1.5%, including infrastructure and cybersecurity."

  The United States demands that Canada and NATO European member states reach this level of expenditure and implies that "debtors" will not be able to obtain US protection. Shoff explained that the NATO Secretary-General made the proposal a week ago, hoping to reach a consensus at the NATO summit on June 24 and 25.

  "I won't confirm the numbers...I keep saying that just 2% doesn't protect ourselves. We should really increase our defense spending," Shoff said.

  By the end of 2024, military expenditures of 22 NATO member states accounted for 2% of GDP. Several countries, including Italy, Spain and Belgium, have not met this goal. To get military spending to reach 3.5% by 2032, these countries may have to make great efforts in their budgets.

  Only Poland is close to the target Trump has demanded, with military spending accounting for 4.7% of GDP and promised to reach 5% next year. The U.S. military expenditure accounts for 3.4% of GDP. (Translated by Lu Longjun)

[Editor in charge: Wang Jinzhi]