NATO: Member States agreed to a spectacular increase in the budget for 2023

Its member states North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed to dramatically increase their joint spending in light of the new security situation in eastern Europe, after invasion of the Russian army in Ukraine on the 24th of February.

NATO’s civilian budget in 2023 will increase by almost 28% to €370.8m, while the military budget is set to increase by almost 26% to €1.96bn, the western military alliance announced yesterday. Wednesday (14/12).

The General Secretary of the Organization Jens Stoltenberg praised this decision, which reflects as he sees it “the highest level of ambition” of the member states of the alliance.

“Only North America and Europe, working together in a strong NATO, can keep our one billion citizens safe in the most dangerous world”the Norwegian said, according to the press release released by his services.

Today, the sum of NATO’s budgets, civil and military, reaches 1.8 billion euros. Compared to the national military expenditure of the Member States, this is a small amount. The US alone spent 769 billion euros this year, while Germany another roughly 55.6 billion euros, according to NATO documents.

Based on the current formula for each member state’s contribution, these are the two countries that bear the brunt of the common costs: together they covered about 16.3%, allocating about €400 million each in 2021.

This formula was revised, as demanded by the former US President Donald Trump, who criticized his country’s European partners, especially Germany, arguing that they did not contribute enough to common defense spending. As a result of this revision, Berlin’s percentage increased and Washington’s decreased significantly.

Further increases in NATO budgets are already planned until 2030, as agreed in principle by member states’ leaders at the Madrid summit in the summer.