US senators request a meeting with Canada's Trudeau to discuss fulfilling the 2% GDP defense spending promise.
"With the NATO Summit in 2024 approaching in Washington D.C., dread and dismay hit us as Canada's recent estimates revealed they won't hit their two percent commitment this ten-year period," the senators wrote. "In 2029, their defense spending is predicted to go up to only 1.7 percent, five years after the deliberated 2024 deadline and still less than the baseline spending," they added.
This letter from congressmen to a head of state is uncommon, happening just about two months before NATO's next annual meeting in Washington. With Russia's war against Ukraine continuing, the approaching summit will mark NATO's 75th anniversary.
Last year at the leader-level summit, the contributed nations agreed that each member should spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense. The senators brought up this agreement as they appealed for Canada to fulfill their commitment. Among these senators were republicans like Mitt Romney of Utah, Ted Cruz of Texas, and democrats like Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, just to name a few.
They stated that Canada's failure to reach its commitment would negatively affect NATO for all its allies and the free world. "Canada will fail to fulfill its commitments to the Alliance, resulting in harm to all NATO Allies and the free world, without swift and significant action to increase defense spending," the senators wrote.
Canada is one of the founding members of NATO, now with 32 member nations. The senators acknowledged the efforts Canada has made to NATO on various accounts, such as taking on a significant role in support of its military operations and developing standards regarding democracy, economic resilience, and human rights.
However, they also pointed out that many other nations are making the necessary steps to reach and surpass the two percent goal. "By the end of 2024, 18 NATO countries will meet the Alliance's goal to guarantee NATO's continued readiness. This is a substantial investment in our collective security, led by nations like Poland, which has already surpassed three percent of their GDP towards defense spending," they stated.
Earlier this year, NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that he expects Canada to "carry out their promise" and specified plans for achieving the target spending.
Additionally, more than ten other NATO members, including Spain, Turkey, and the Netherlands, have not yet reached the alliance's target.
While the letter didn't reference former President Donald Trump, he has made a significant impact on ongoing efforts to increase alliance members' contributions. He repeatedly asked members to contribute more to NATO and defense spending overall.
The Europeans are also anxious about what Trump might do in a possible second term regarding NATO.
Should he win the election in November, Trump plans to consider pushing for a two-tier NATO, CNN reported previously. This would mean that countries not meeting the 2% of GDP spending commitment would not be protected by NATO's Article 5, which states that the resources of the entire alliance can be used to protect any single member nation attacked.
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Source: edition.cnn.com
