NATO allies make progress towards burden-sharing: NATO chief

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference that NATO allies made major progress towards fairer burden-sharing.

It will be the third consecutive year of accelerating defence investment across European allies and Canada, Stoltenberg told media after the defence ministers meeting on Thursday.

According to him, NATO European allies and Canada spent $46 billion more on defence since 2015. In 2017, 25 NATO allies will increase defence spending in real terms, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We expect Romania to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence, joining the five countries already meeting this benchmark, and next year, Latvia and Lithuania will join them," Stoltenberg added.

NATO defence ministers agreed to accept new NATO capability targets, stepping up in key areas, including heavy equipment and air-to-air refuelling.

They also discussed enhancing NATO-EU cooperation, including in the fight against terrorism during the meeting.

--IANS

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