Budget allocated to defense: Europeans still far from the mark, points out a German institute

The situation in the Middle East, but also the war in Ukraine, on the agenda of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

This Monday, March 18, European ministers will meet in Brussels.

They must in particular speak with Antony Blinken, the American Secretary of State.

The United States, which continues to point the finger at Europeans for their lack of investment in defense.

A note published in Germany supports their view.

NATO headquarters, in Brussels, in 2022 (illustrative photo).

© AP - Olivier Matthys

By: RFI Follow

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NATO

recommends, for the attention of European member countries of the Atlantic Alliance, to allocate 2% of their GDP to their national defense

.

This weekend, a note from the German

Ifo

institute was

relayed by the

Financial Times

.

And it shows that Europeans are still far from the mark.

What European members of NATO are missing to achieve the military spending target set by the organization is 56 billion euros, according to this note.

Among the worst performers, we find Spain

,

Italy

,

which are each missing 11 billion euros, but also

Belgium

.

These three countries have one thing in common: a very high public debt, at more than 100% of GDP.

The note from the German institute reveals that it will be difficult for the most indebted European countries to achieve NATO's military spending objective.

Especially since the upcoming implementation of the new European stability and growth pact will further constrain the budgets of EU countries.

However, the leaders want to be rather optimistic.

The Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance announced last week that two thirds of its members would spend enough this year.

By 2026, eurozone countries must double their defense spending.

Also listen to Nordic Response: NATO makes its comeback in the Arctic

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