NATO foresees spending boost by Europe ahead of meeting

BRUSSELS — NATO nations are increasing spending on defense, with nine of the alliance’s 29 members now meeting guidelines, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday, ahead of a summit next week where President Donald Trump is expected to hammer leaders yet again to increase military expenditures.

The top-tier spending club — with at least 2% of annual gross domestic product allocated for defense — expanded by one country and now includes Bulgaria, according to the military alliance’s figures.

E.U. countries and Canada have collectively boosted their defense spending every year since 2015, motivated first by Russia’s conflict with Ukraine and then by Trump’s threats to pull the United States from NATOif they did not ante up more cash.

“All NATO allies decided to invest more, and now we are delivering on that,” Stoltenberg said.

Leaders will meet in London starting Tuesday for a quick summit — which diplomats hope will not be derailed by further spending demands from

Trump.

In another, mostly symbolic effort to hand Trump a NATO spending victory, allies have also agreed to further limit the U.S. contribution to the central NATO budget — the bucket of money that pays for the electricity at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels as well as a handful of military headquarters around Europe.

The meeting comes at a moment in which alliance divisions are on display more than ever, with French President Emmanuel Macron declaring NATO “brain dead.”