NATO plans to call on European allies and Canada to increase their stockpiles of weapons and military equipment by approximately 30% over the next few years.
This was reported to Bloomberg by a senior NATO official and informed sources.
According to the agency, new military capability targets for NATO member countries are being discussed to replace the previous ones established before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The goal is to adopt these new targets by early June when defense ministers from NATO member states are scheduled to meet in Brussels.
The sources claim that achieving these new levels will require significant financial investments from most European allies and Canada, while the United States will not need to make any changes to its spending.
According to one official, the new goals will require a 30% increase in equipment volumes across all sectors, with some specific categories seeing much larger or smaller increases than others.
A senior NATO official noted that these new targets, which will take between five to fifteen years to achieve, will significantly strengthen European and Canadian forces within NATO and reduce their dependence on the U.S.
It’s worth noting that U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly accused NATO members of taking advantage of Washington by spending insufficiently on defense. He stated that the U.S. would step back from its traditional role as the security guarantor in Europe and demanded that allies spend 5% on defense — a goal many consider unrealistic.
Currently, NATO members expect the U.S. to reduce its military presence in Europe as its priorities shift to the Indo-Pacific region.
