NATO's Rutte wants 2032 deadline for new defence spending goals

10/5/2025 6:33

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has proposed that alliance members meet higher targets for defence spending by 2032, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on Friday.



Reuters reported last week that Rutte had proposed NATO members raise defence spending to 3.5% of their GDP, and a further 1.5% on broader security-related items to meet U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for a 5% target.



Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting, Schoof confirmed those figures, which would represent a major increase from the current NATO goal of spending 2% of GDP on defence.



NATO aims to agree the new targets at a summit of alliance leaders including Trump, in The Hague, on June 24-25.



"Rutte has sent a letter to all NATO members to say that he expects that the commitment at the NATO summit will be 3.5% on hard military spending, to be reached in 2032, and 1.5% on related spending such as on infrastructure, cyber security, and similar things also to be reached by 2032," Schoof said.



NATO did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Schoof's remarks.