Stoltenberg says 18 of 31 NATO members set to meet 2% GDP spending goal

Feb. 14 (UPI) -- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said that spending among members had increased amid criticism over the military alliance.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday, Stoltenberg said he anticipated that 18 of the military alliance's 31 members would hit their goal to spend 2% of their countries' gross domestic product on defense, representing a "record number."

"At last year's summit in Vilnius, we took major decisions to further strengthen our deterrence and defense," he said. "Now we are putting these plans into action. This requires investing more. And we are making real progress."

Stoltenberg, however, said critics of NATO allies not spending enough on defense had a "valid point."

"The criticism that we hear is not primarily about NATO, it's about NATO allies not spending enough on NATO," Stoltenberg said Wednesday.

"It's a point and the message that has been conveyed by successive U.S. administrations that European Allies and Canada have to spend more, because we haven't seen fair burden sharing in the alliance," he continued. "The good news is that that is exactly what NATO Allies are doing."

The comments come after former U.S. President Donald Trump told a rally in South Carolina on Saturday that he would "encourage" Russia "to do whatever the hell they want," to NATO allies that don't meet NATO's target of 2% of GDP being spent on defense.

The secretary-general acknowledged that some states still needed to meet their spending goals.

"Some allies still have some way to go. Because we agreed at the Vilnius Summit that all Allies should invest 2%," Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg, however, noted that spending among European NATO allies had increased as they were slated to invest a combined $380 billion on defense in 2024 and emphasized that Germany had increased domestic production capability.

"Just this week, Germany launched construction for a new ammunition factory in Lower Saxony. At full capacity, it will produce around 200,000 artillery shells per year," Stoltenberg said.