Caretaker Cabinet backs NATO plan to raise Defense spending to 5% of GDP

The caretaker Cabinet wants the Netherlands to support a proposed new NATO spending target of 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans (VVD) announced the government's position on Friday following the weekly council of ministers meeting.

A proposal from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte would ensure that NATO member states would have to spend 3.5 percent of their GDP on direct investments into the Defense sector and 1.5 percent on sector-related investments, like infrastructure. This amounts to over 19 billion euros in investment from the Netherlands. The new target will be discussed at the NATO Summit in The Hague at the end of the month.

The Netherlands will indicate at that summit that it considers the increase in the standard to be a good proposal. "We hope of course that other countries will also will join this spending target in the near future," said Brekelmans. "I expect that this will also happen."

The increased threat from Russia has created a "military necessity" to spend more on weapons, ammunition and personnel, Brekelmans emphasized. Another factor is that protection by the United States as the largest NATO ally has become less certain since the return of Donald Trump as president.

Brekelmans acknowledged that financing the increase will be challenging but also alluded to the fact that this would be something for the next government to solve. “A step is being made for 2026, with extra money in the Spring Memorandum. It is up to the next Cabinet to make decisions regarding this in the following years,” the defense minister said.

The Netherlands is currently spending 2 percent of its GDP on the Defense sector. The increase in investment will likely result in budget cuts in other sectors by the government.

The new NATO standard has to be achieved by 2032. The Netherlands are not against that deadline, but it can still be postponed, according to the minister. Some member states want the investment completed faster, other countries think that a postponement would benefit feasibility. The 32 members of the alliance will have to work this out among themselves, according to Brekelmans.

The caretaker coalition parties, VVD, BBB, and NSC, will need support from the opposition parties for the proposal. The caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Caspar Veldkamp, has said that he hopes the opposition parties will agree to the investment proposal. The proposal will be debated in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, on Tuesday.