BRUSSELS - The NATO chief urged allies on Tuesday to step up their defense spending, a day ahead of the first meeting between new U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his 27 NATO counterparts in Brussels.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested during his campaign that he might not defend allies who refuse to contribute their fair share. His comments have alarmed European nations, particularly those near Russia's border, like Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
"Fair burden-sharing and increased defense spending underpins the trans-Atlantic alliance," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. "If we reduce defense spending in times when tensions are going down, we have to be able to increase defense spending when tensions are going up, as they are now."
While the Trump administration is weighing its defense commitments to Europe, NATO leaders have already committed to halting spending cuts and raising their military budgets to 2 percent of gross domestic product.
But apart from the United States, only four other NATO member countries do so — Britain, Estonia, Poland and debt-ridden Greece, according to NATO figures. (AP)