MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
NATO allies are gathering in the Netherlands for a summit tomorrow as Russia continues its war on Ukraine and days after President Trump joined Israel in striking Iran. The Trump administration suggested the president might skip it if other members of the alliance did not agree to massively boost their defense spending. NATO did reach an agreement yesterday, which officials hope will mean smooth sailing later this week. Here's reporter Teri Schultz.
TERI SCHULTZ, BYLINE: NATO's Summit in the Hague will be dominated by two figures - Donald Trump and the number five.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PETE HEGSETH: Five percent is our message, and we will deliver that. President Trump at the Hague at the summit.
SCHULTZ: That's U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at NATO headquarters in early June already confident the other 31 NATO countries would agree to raise military expenditures to 5% of their GDP - more than double their current investment for many. And except for Spain, which has negotiated a special lower rate, allies will deliver the deal on Wednesday, pledging to hit the mark by 2035. Secretary General Mark Rutte, who made it his mission to secure the spending surge, regularly rejects suggestions. It's primary purpose is to keep the U.S. on board. He insists the agreement is not about pleasing one person but about protecting the 1 billion citizens in NATO territory.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARK RUTTE: What we see is Russia rapidly reconstituting itself. We see a massive Chinese buildup of its military, and that is what this Summit is all about - much more defense spending, so that we are able, indeed, to defend ourselves.
SCHULTZ: But some observers aren't convinced this urgent pledge represents an upgrade in real capabilities.
PAUL TAYLOR: The 5% number is an absurdity.
SCHULTZ: Longtime NATO watcher Paul Taylor, now a senior fellow at the European Policy Centre think tank in Brussels.
TAYLOR: I think we're giving the United States and President Trump, specifically, a rod with which to beat us, and I think that it takes no account of the quality of military spending. It takes no account of whether it's spent efficiently by procuring weapons together or whether it's spent inefficiently by everybody going to their national champion for more of the same weapons.
SCHULTZ: Economist Guntram Wolff with the Bruegel think tank also has doubts the plan is a practical one. He says it doesn't make sense to try to force countries far from the frontline of Russia's war against Ukraine to invest huge amounts in heavy arms.
GUNTRAM WOLFF: There's really a scarcity of material in the market, a scarcity of produced weapons. And those weapons that are being bought at the moment, they should really be bought by countries that need them the most and that tend to be the countries from Germany to Finland, essentially.
SCHULTZ: But those are questions to be examined after Wednesday's summit, which has been pared down to a single session with the final document a single page to reduce the possibilities for political disruptions. Potential disagreements over references to Russia and Ukraine have been resolved by barely mentioning them. This meeting is all about investment. Europeans hoping their budget boosts earn long-term interest from Trump. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.
(SOUNDBITE OF URBS' "TU MOI AUSSI?") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR鈥檚 programming is the audio record.