NATO has announced a 12 percent increase in its 2024 military spending, setting a budget of $2.2 billion to support defense operations across the globe.
NATO member states also agreed to allocate $480.1 million for the alliance’s civil budget next year, providing for an 18.2 percent hike to cover personnel, operating costs and program expenditures for the organization’s headquarters and its international personnel.
Additionally, the alliance approved a $1.4 billion budget ceiling for the NATO Security Investment Program, which funds major construction activities and investments in command and control systems.
The NSIP allowance for 2024 represents a 30 percent jump from the previous year, the organization said.
According to NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, the approved budget for civil and military spending represents the alliance’s solidarity and collective will, which he noted is required in “turbulent times.”
Geoana stressed that increasing and broadening the use of NATO common funding allows the organization to effectively address shared security challenges.
During the 2022 Madrid Summit in Spain, NATO leaders agreed to increase the alliance’s investment to better address rising threats to Euro-Atlantic security due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The following year at the Vilnius Summit in Lithuania, the organization reaffirmed its commitment to global peace and security, stressing that deterrence and defense measures should be adequately resourced.