Menu

Search

  |   Commentary

Menu

  |   Commentary

Search

US under Trump Series: Looming NATO payment victory for Trump

Trump agitated the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) partners of the United States by suggesting that US cannot and will not guarantee coming to the rescue for those NATO partners, who are not paying up their fair share. He also called NATO obsolete as the purpose for which it was created has changed over the years but objectives were not upgraded. Trump faced fierce criticism at home and at abroad over his comments. At home, Democrats feared that Trump has a point and some voters might actually like it and abroad, who like to pay more when they can get away with less.

But after Donald Trump secured a victory in the United States, the mood has completely changed in Europe. Countries are now lining up to boost their military spending. Below are the countries in Europe, which are not paying their fair share. The data shows military spending as a percentage of GDP.

  • Norway – 1.5 percent
  • Latvia – 1.5 percent
  • Denmark -1.2 percent
  • Lithuania – 1.5 percent
  • Germany – 1.2 percent
  • Czech Republic – 1 percent
  • France – 1.8 percent
  • Luxembourg – 0.8 percent
  • Spain – 0.9 percent
  • Portugal – 1.4 percent
  • Italy – 1.1 percent
  • Croatia – 1.2 percent
  • Bulgaria – 1.3 percent
  • Romania – 1.5 percent
  • Slovakia – 1.2 percent
  • Slovenia – 0.9 percent
  • Albania – 1.2 percent
  • Iceland – zero

The list is quite long and for years now, these countries didn’t fulfill the NATO requirement of 2 percent of GDP spending on the military. Interesting, Europe’s stressed member spends 2.4 percent of GDP on the military, while France and Germany remained major falters.

 

 

  • Market Data
Close

Welcome to EconoTimes

Sign up for daily updates for the most important
stories unfolding in the global economy.