Dutch Government Needs to Spend Up to €19 Billion More to Meet NATO Target

The Netherlands estimates it will need to boost defense spending by as much as €19 billion ($21.4 billion) a year to meet the expected new target for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The fulfillment of the military alliance’s capacity targets “will require a minimum of €16 billion to €19 billion annually” in addition to the draft budgeted spending this year of 2% of GDP, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans wrote in a letter to parliament on Tuesday. “With current economic expectations, this amounts to a percentage of approximately 3.5% of GDP,” he said.