Carney to talk NATO defence spending hike as summit kicks off

While the main talks on NATO defence spending won't take place until Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to discuss the issue during bilateral discussions.

Prime Minister Mark Carney begins a two-day stop Tuesday in the Netherlands, where NATO alliance members are prepared to decide whether to more than double the defense spending target.

The main talks in The Hague won’t happen until Wednesday, with Carney first set to take part in several bilateral meetings.

Carney will meet with the President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dick Schoof. He will also meet with leaders of Nordic countries for talks focused on Arctic and transatlantic security.

The prime minister will also meet with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is set to speak to reporters twice today, first in The Hague at around 7:15 am ET and then virtually at 8:30 am ET.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte have both said they expect alliance members to commit to a new target to spend the equivalent of five per cent of GDP on defence, up from the current two per cent target set in 2014.

None of NATO’s 32 members spent that much on defence in 2024, according to the alliance’s own data. All of them are pledging to meet the two per cent figure this year, including Canada for the first time since the target was created.

A Canadian government official who briefed reporters on background before the trip said the spending target and its timeline are still up for discussion. Some allies have indicated they would prefer a seven-year timeline, while others want a decade to reach the five per cent target.