BRUSSELS—Defense spending by European NATO states inched up for the first time in seven years in 2016, the military alliance said on Monday, but still remained below the threshold the new U.S. President Donald Trump said was crucial to achieve.
Trump made NATO states in Europe nervous when he criticized the alliance as “obsolete” during election campaign and then went on to suggest he could make U.S. commitment to their security conditional on them meeting the alliance’s target of defense spending at two percent of their economic output.
Trump has since reaffirmed support for NATO but insisted Europeans must “pay their fair …read more
Source: The Epoch Times
