00:00 18 NATO member states are set to spend 2% of their gross domestic product on defense
00:07 this year. The alliance`s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made the announcement on
00:12 Wednesday. Stoltenberg explained that European NATO members will spend $380 billion on defense,
00:20 hitting 2% of their combined GDP for the first time.
00:26 European allies are spending more. However, some allies still have a way to go. Because
00:35 we agreed at the Vilnius Summit that all allies should invest 2%, and that 2% is a minimum.
00:44 The defense budget of European countries is a hot topic at the moment. Former president
00:49 and potential Republican candidate Donald Trump said if elected, he would not come to
00:54 the aid of NATO members missing the 2% target. But Stoltenberg said NATO must always stand
01:00 behind each of its members.
01:02 Any suggestion that we are not standing up for each other, that we are not going to protect
01:06 each other, that is undermining the security of all of us, increasing the risks. And therefore,
01:12 it is so important that we both in actions, but also in words, communicate clearly that
01:18 we stand by NATO`s commitment to protect and defend all allies.
01:23 Euronews spoke to Michael Baranowski, director of the Warsaw office of the German Marshall
01:28 Fund. He said Trump`s remarks would be dangerous if he was president of the United States.
01:34 But his threat is not why European states have invested more in defense.
01:41 The spending of NATO allies has been increasing dramatically since Russia`s full-scale invasion
01:50 of Ukraine two years ago. There is no doubt that the main motivation is in order to respond
01:59 to President Putin, not President Trump.
02:02 U.S. legislation bars any president from leaving NATO without the backing of two-thirds of
02:08 the U.S. Congress. But Trump`s possible return as U.S. president worries some allies, given
02:14 the country plays such a major role in the organization.
02:17 [LAUGHTER]
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