
NATO leaders to debate proposed hike to defence spending
Global News
Prime Minister Mark Carney is among the leaders around the table at the annual leaders' summit where the proposal is being discussed.
NATO leaders are meeting to debate whether to more than double the alliance’s defence spending target.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is among the leaders around the table at the annual leaders’ summit in The Hague, where a proposal is being discussed to increase the target to five per cent of annual GDP, up from the current two per cent.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s proposal would break that into two parts. The first 3.5 per cent would be for core defence needs such as jets and weapons, while the remaining 1.5 per cent would be on defence-adjacent investments including infrastructure and cybersecurity.
Before the official meeting of the North Atlantic Council, Carney held bilateral meetings with the prime minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, and the prime minister of Estonia, Kristen Michal.
The agenda was delayed Wednesday, with leaders still arriving as of 10:30 a.m., when their meeting was scheduled to begin.
Leaders entered the meeting room about 45 minutes later than planned. Carney chatted with several leaders before the meeting, including French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand also went over to speak for a couple of minutes with U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
A short video played before Rutte delivered remarks, with all the leaders sitting around a large table.













