EU countries increase defense budgets above old NATO standard
BRUSSELS – European countries have significantly increased their defense spending since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The 392 billion euros that the EDA predicts for this year is, excluding inflation, about 11 percent more than last year. And that was already 19 percent more than a year earlier. In 2019, they reached 343 billion, accounting for 1.9 percent of GDP, almost meeting the NATO standard that was still in place at the time.
At the NATO summit in The Hague, NATO countries, including 23 of the 27 EU member states, have raised their target again. They have agreed to spend 3.5 percent of their GDP on Defense and an additional 1.5 percent on matters that benefit Defense, such as cybersecurity and tank-resistant bridges and roads.
(September 2, 2025)
