The Netherlands is likely to spend more than 2% of its GDP on defense this year, new evidence shows Preparation From NATO. For a long time, our country has not met this criterion for an alliance.

Of the 32 NATO countries, 22 plus the Netherlands are likely to reach 2 percent. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a speech in Washington on Monday that this is the first time that such a large number of countries have adhered to NATO standards.

In February, 18 NATO countries were expected to meet this criterion. The Netherlands was still excluded from this at the time, but the outgoing government allocated additional funds this spring to reach 2 per cent.

The Netherlands remains at the bottom of the list, along with Albania, Montenegro and Slovakia. Poland spends the largest percentage proportionately on defence: 4.1 percent of GDP.

In 2006, NATO countries agreed to spend 2% of GDP on defense, but only a few countries have been able to achieve this goal in the past. This led to frustration, especially in the United States. Since the war in Ukraine, more countries have shown their willingness to work towards achieving 2 percent.

Outgoing Prime Minister Rutte said after an EU summit in Brussels that he believed the Netherlands had now also committed to the agreement “very nice news.” Rutte believes this will remain the case in the future. “When you see what’s going on in the world, we just have to be able to hold our pants down.” “This is good for Europe and the United States,” Stoltenberg said in Washington.