NATO COUNTRIES HAVE agreed to increase their defence spending from 2% of GDP to 5% in the next decade, amid a renewed focus on the importance of military strength. 

The move will see an increase of billions of euros to be spent on defence in the coming years. 

At the Nato summit in The Hague, the 32 member countries strongly reinforced their commitment to defend each other in case of an attack. 

In a joint statement, the countries said that there is an “ironclad” commitment to mutual defence if any member country is attacked. 

The 32 Nato members also declared Russia to be a “long term threat” – but did not go as far as condemning the war in Ukraine. 

There had been concerns that the US would not want to honour its commitments to defending other Nato allies; Donald Trump had given mixed messages en route to the summit. 

As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump suggested that as president he would not necessarily abide by the alliance’s mutual defence guarantees.

On his way to The Hague, aboard Air Force One, Trump said that his commitment to mutual defence “depends on your definition”.

“There’s numerous definitions of Article Five [of the Nato Treaty which enshrines mutual defence]. You know that, right? But I’m committed to being their friends,” he said.

He signalled that he would give a more precise definition of what Article Five means to him once he was at the summit.

When Trump arrived he changed his tune and told reporters: “We’re with them all the way.”

The US president was referencing a growing debate across Nato on what Article Five means.

One definition has been that the US’s nuclear weapons are a backstop for the entire organisation, acting as a guaranteed response to aggression. 

Another interpretation of Article Five is that it merely binds members to providing support to a State, which could be anything from access to airspace to fighting in a war alongside them. 

Mark Rutte, Nato’s Secretary General, after a flurry of unctuous messages to Donald Trump, said that the US was “totally committed” to the mutual defence clause.

“For me, there is absolute clarity that the United States has totally committed to Nato, totally committed to Article Five,” Rutte said.

The spending increase from 2% of GDP to 5% is something that the US – and Trump himself – has long fought for. 

This will also cover investment in military industry and supercharge manufacturing. 

But not everyone has agreed to it. Spain said it could not meet the 5% recommendation, but the Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said it would meet all its military capability commitments for Nato. Spain has said it will commit to 2.1% of GDP on the basis that its military commitments can be met at that level.

In his press conference after the summit, Trump said that he would put pressure on Spain in a trade deal to pay more.