NATO considers including cyber security in defence budget target

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is weighing up including cyber security in its proposed defence spending budget for members.

NATO is setting a target for member nations to spend 5 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, with 3.5 per cent to be spent on hard defence expenses, with the remaining 1.5 per cent to be spent on other categories such as non-military, space operations, critical infrastructure and more.

While the exact break-up is not concrete, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte “sent a letter to all NATO members to say that he expects that the commitment at the NATO summit will be 3.5 per cent on hard military spending, to be reached in 2032, and 1.5 per cent on related spending such as on infrastructure, cyber security, and similar things also to be reached by 2032”.

You’re out of free articles for this month

Username or Email

Password Forgot password?

Keep me signed in on this device.

First Name

Last Name

Mobile

Organisation Type

By becoming a member, I agree to receive information and promotional messages from Cyber Daily. I can opt out of these communications at any time. For more information, please visit our Privacy Statement.

Need help signing up? Visit the Help Centre.

Now, NATO is considering including cyber security, as well as border and coastal security, within the 1.5 per cent budget.

However, some member states are requesting other expenditures to be taken into account, including counter-terrorism and military mobility infrastructure.

Kyiv has also requested that the new 5 per cent target include military aid for Ukraine, as NATO has not renewed its €40 billion aid pledge.

The budget will be a key topic of discussion at the NATO summit on 24 June in The Hague. Until then, the proposal will continue to be discussed; however, Rutte is confident that the new 5 per cent spending target will be agreed to by alliance members.

VIEW ALL

“I assume that in The Hague, we will agree on a high defence spend target of in total 5 per cent,” he said at a NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Dayton.

“Let’s say that this 5 per cent, but I will not say what is the individual break-up, but it will be considerably north of 3 per cent when it comes to the hard spend, and it will be also a target on defence-related spending.”

Daniel Croft

Born in the heart of Western Sydney, Daniel Croft is a passionate journalist with an understanding for and experience writing in the technology space. Having studied at Macquarie University, he joined Momentum Media in 2022, writing across a number of publications including Australian Aviation, Cyber Security Connect and Defence Connect. Outside of writing, Daniel has a keen interest in music, and spends his time playing in bands around Sydney.

You need to be a member to post comments. Become a member for free today!

newsletter

Be the first to hear the latest developments in the cyber industry.

NATO considers including cyber security in defence budget target

Daniel Croft

OUR PLATFORMS AND BRANDS

EVENTS AND SUMMITS

PODCASTS

LEARNING AND EDUCATION

MOMENTUM MARKETS NETWORK

LINKS

STAY CONNECTED