Politics
21:40, 28-Jun-2017
NATO's European members, Canada to raise defense budget by 4.3%
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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the alliance's European members and Canada would increase their defense budgets by 4.3 percent in 2017, following pressure from US President Donald Trump to spend more.
Stoltenberg made the remarks on the eve of a defense ministers' meeting in Brussels. He said the increase would be spent on more military exercises and equipment, as well as salaries and pensions for personnel.
Trump has repeatedly berated other alliance members for not doing more to share the defense burden, and he criticized them again at a leader's summit in May.