Denmark says it will achieve the 2 per cent goal by 2033, after having historically spent far below the NATO average on its defence.
In 2018, then United States president, Donald Trump, commented that European members of NATO were not spending enough on defence and suggested that the US might leave the alliance. But the US has for decades felt that Europe’s NATO members do not carry enough of the burden for protecting Europe, as it spends much more on defence as a percentage of its GDP than they do.
During the 1970s and 1980s, several US and British units were earmarked for deployment to Denmark because NATO command knew that its forces were inadequate for the task even of self-defence. This evidence throws doubt on Truss’ comment that “we’ve shown that we’re prepared to prioritise security and respect for sovereignty over short-term economic gain”.To save money, Western governments have cut defence spending and depended on limited numbers of weapon systems and military equipment. This makes sense to most people in peacetime.
A host of NATO countries are now pledging to provide a range of heavy weapons and equipment to Ukraine.