SIPRI director says NATO countries cannot quickly increase defense spending

NATO members will not be able to increase defense spending at the expense of economic growth, so they will have to either raise taxes or cut spending on other government functions. Dan Smith, director of the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research (SIPRI), said in an interview with Izvestia.

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"If they decide to increase taxation, yes, they can do it without loss to their social sector. The other option or the other main way that military spending can be increased is through economic growth. But right now it is very limited in most European countries," he said.

Smith believes that in general, countries that are not involved in hostilities should not be expected to increase their spending very quickly. He believes that even a minimal increase in the defense budget will take European countries at least four years.

"So I think that an increase from, say, 2.2 or 2.3 to 3% of GDP will take at least four years," the expert added.

Read more in Izvestia's exclusive piece:

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