BRUSSELS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said at a press conference that NATO allies made major progress towards fairer burden-sharing.
It will be the third consecutive year of accelerating defense investment across European allies and Canada, Stoltenberg told media after the defense ministers meeting.
According to him, NATO European allies and Canada spent 46 billion U.S. dollars more on defense since 2015. In 2017, 25 NATO allies will increase defense spending in real terms.
"We expect Romania to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense, joining the five countries already meeting this benchmark, and next year, Latvia and Lithuania will join them," Stoltenberg added.
NATO defense 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.
