NATO allies approve 26% increase in military budget for 2023

Europe, News December 16, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

NATO Allies agreed to increase civil and military budgets by 27.8% and 25.8% for 2023 at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council on December 14, 2022.

The civil budget is set at €370.8 million ($394.7 million) and the military budget is set at €1.96 billion ($2 billion), according to the NATO statement.

The statement highlighted that the increase in the military budget reflects higher ambitions for the new security reality. The military alliance release read that “NATO is committed to providing security in a way that is effective, transparent, and financially responsible.”

“Common funding demonstrates Allied solidarity and enables NATO members to more effectively address shared security challenges,” the statement added.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg strongly welcomed the agreement of NATO’s civil and military budgets for 2023. Stoltenberg said that “This is a concrete expression of the higher level of ambition set by Allied Heads of State and Government at our transformative Madrid Summit in June. We must continue to invest more and better together in NATO. Only North America and Europe, working together in a strong NATO, can keep our one billion people safe in a more dangerous world.”

The military budget covers the operating costs of NATO Command Structure headquarters, missions, and operations around the world. The NATO statement highlighted that the Alliance’s shared funded element is the NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP), which covers major construction and command and control system investments. “The 2023 ceiling for the NSIP is €1 billion, representing a 26.6% increase over 2022,” the NATO release read.

The increase in civil budget would support the NATO personnel and cover funds for operating costs and program expenditures of the Alliance’s headquarters as well as its international staff.

*^{NATO troops taking part in exercise Silver Arrow in Latvia. (Image Credit: NATO)}*

In June this year during the Madrid Summit, the NATO Allies agreed to invest more together in the Alliance, which reflects the urgency to respond to the deteriorating security situation in Europe caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In NATO’s new Strategic Concept, Allies agreed that political decisions need to be adequately resourced and that “investing in NATO is the best way to ensure the enduring bond between European and North American Allies, while contributing to global peace and stability.”

NATO Allies also decided to establish at least four new battlegroups in Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania, to combat the increasing threat from Russia. Each of the four new groups would consist of battalions of between 900 and 1,300 personnel. Several NATO countries, including Germany, are supplying permanent troops to be stationed at the easter flanks, while others are rotating and taking turns.

Last month NATO Chief Stoltenberg participated in the EU Defense Ministers meeting and discussed the NATO alliance’s military mobility. The NATO secretary general said that “It is extremely important that we replenish stocks and this is also something which we have addressed in the NATO format.”