NATO says European core defense spending up 11 percent in 2026

ANKARA: NATO on Tuesday said core defense spending by Europe and Canada rose 11 percent in 2026, as US President Donald Trump pressures allies to make good on a vow to ramp up budgets.
The latest figures were released as leaders from the 32-nation alliance come face-to-face with Trump at a summit in Ankara.
NATO estimated that spending by Europe and Canada in 2026 would hit $634 billion from $571 billion in 2025, still well off US expenditure on its military.
The increase was down on a roughly 19 percent uptick from 2024 to 2025.
Trump is demanding that Washington’s allies pick up their pace on fulfilling a pledge to reach five percent of GDP on broader security-related spending by 2035.
NATO said that already this year five countries — including Poland and the Baltic states — were hitting that target.
But there were some countries that were lagging well behind — with Slovenia at the back of the pack with core defense spending at just 1.61 percent.