Friday, September 5, 2014

NATO Leaders Vow To Increase Defense Spending

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

NATO Leaders to Vow to Lift Military Spending -- Wall Street Journal

Commitment Would Be Nonbinding

NEWPORT, Wales—Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will pledge at a summit here to lift their military spending to 2% of each country's gross domestic product over the next 10 years, according to three officials familiar with the negotiations over the summit communiqué.

Only four of NATO's 28 member states currently meet or exceed that level: the U.S., U.K., Greece and Estonia. The decision to cite the 2% figure was the subject of intense political negotiations ahead of the meeting here. NATO summit conclusions negotiated ahead of time are rarely overturned by leaders.

Before the meeting started on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance would "turn the corner and reverse the trend of declining military spending" at the summit.

Read more ....

Update: NATO backs plan to boost alliance's defenses -- Reuters

My Comment:  The key word in this agreement is that it will be "non-binding" .... which means that no one is committed to these goals. In short .... nothing is going to change.

No comments: