Reuters reported on the financial problems of NATO countries due to the new requirement of the bloc

New NATO measures, including a defense spending figure of 5% of GDP, are already affecting the budgets of the alliance's member countries. This was reported by the Reuters news agency on July 6.

The agency recalled that in the summer of 2025, NATO members, under pressure from US President Donald Trump, agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, which is almost twice the total level of spending by alliance members in 2025.

According to the newspaper, since then, two camps have formed in the military-political bloc. One is Germany and the countries of Northern and Eastern Europe, which have mostly found in their budgets the potential to increase defense spending. On the other hand, there are several large countries that are still trying to adjust to the new rules.

"For example, the UK is not coping [with the new indicators]. France and Italy too," said Guntram Wolf, an employee of the Bruegel economics center.

In addition, the article reports on other European NATO member countries, where governments are trying to increase defense spending by reducing funding for other sectors of the economy. Last week, the United Kingdom announced plans to allocate $20.01 billion for defense, partially funded by reducing other costs. However, it turned out that a third of them are still not funded.

In many NATO countries, there are still voices criticizing the new spending figures, or refuting the achievement by certain members of the alliance of intermediate targets on the way to the final 5% of GDP, the newspaper writes.

It is noted that even if European society may begin to agree that more money should be allocated to military needs, some experts argue that local defense industry enterprises need to make sure that government defense spending remains high before they make the investments necessary to increase its potential.

The publication emphasizes that the administration of US President Donald Trump has "made it clear" that it wants European allies to take more responsibility for their own defense. Pete Hegseth said on his first trip abroad as the new US Secretary of Defense that Washington would focus on securing its southern border and countering China. At the same time, Europe's security is taking a back seat.

Mentor the bloc: NATO approaches the summit in Turkey weakened

How are the leaders of the alliance going to resolve internal disputes and find common ground on Ukraine

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on July 5 that the existence of the North Atlantic Alliance in the future is not guaranteed. He called on European NATO countries to increase defense spending in order to prevent a possible US withdrawal from the alliance.

On June 18, Hegseth sharply criticized some NATO members for insufficient defense spending and their position on the war with Iran, and also announced a review of the details of the presence of American armed forces in Europe. He stressed that defense spending commitments mean turning the alliance back into a military one focused on hard power and real deterrence.