A bipartisan group of 23 US senators has written a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging Canada to fulfill its commitment to spend 2% of its GDP on defense. Concerns have been raised that key members of the NATO alliance are not meeting their obligations. The senators expressed disappointment that Canada’s most recent projection indicated it would not reach the 2% commitment by the agreed-upon deadline of 2024, with estimated defense spending only reaching 1.7% in 2029.
The letter from lawmakers comes ahead of NATO’s next annual summit in Washington, DC, which will coincide with the alliance’s 75th anniversary amid ongoing conflicts such as Russia’s war against Ukraine. At last year’s summit, NATO members agreed that each nation should allocate at least 2% of GDP to defense spending. The senators highlighted this agreement in their plea for Canada to uphold its commitment, arguing that failing to do so would be detrimental to NATO as a whole.
Notable senators including Mitt Romney and Ted Cruz from the Republican Party and Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Van Hollen from the Democratic Party emphasized the importance of Canada meeting its defense spending obligations to ensure the strength and readiness of the alliance. They warned that Canada’s failure to do so would negatively impact all NATO members and the wider free world. Despite contributions made by Canada to NATO operations and standards, the senators stressed the urgency for immediate and meaningful action to increase defense spending.
While many NATO nations are making efforts to meet and surpass the 2% target, Canada and several others such as Spain, Turkey, and the Netherlands have fallen short of expectations. The senators singled out Canada for lacking a clear plan to achieve the spending target, leading to concerns about the country’s ability to meet its commitments to the alliance. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has also voiced expectations for Canada to fulfill its pledge or provide concrete plans for reaching the desired level of defense spending.
Former President Donald Trump’s influence on alliance members’ defense spending efforts was alluded to in the letter, as he had previously emphasized the need for increased contributions to NATO during his presidency. There are concerns among Europeans about what Trump might push for regarding NATO if reelected, including the establishment of a two-tier system where countries failing to meet the 2% GDP spending commitment would not be covered under NATO’s Article 5 protection clause. This clause ensures that the resources of all alliance members can be utilized to defend any member nation under attack.
