Presser To Close Minsters' Meeting; Sec-Gen Pushes For More Def Spending

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stolenberg is set to hold a presser at ~1445CET (0845ET, 1345BST) to close the defence ministers' meeting that has taken place in Brussels over the past two days. This meeting is the final ministerial-level meeting ahead of the leaders' summit taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania from 11-12 July

• During the meeting, Stoltenberg reiterated his calls for NATO member states to view spending 2% of GDP on defence as a floor rather than a ceiling, stating that this amount should be seen “as a minimum to invest in defense,”
• Of the 29 NATO members with standing armed forces, only seven (Greece, US, Lithuania, Poland, UK, Estonia, Latvia) exceeded the 2% of GDP on defence spending level in 2023.
• With gov't budgets coming under strain across NATO members from rising public sector pay demands and increased debt repayment levels amid the high inflation/elevated interest rate environment, the prospect of major increases in defence spending among those nations sitting below the 2% of GDP threshold may be limited.
• Link to livestream: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/events_67375.htm