The Nato meeting of defence ministers in Brussels today will give its participants an opportunity to discuss the issues facing the alliance in perhaps a more cordial, if frank, manner before the inevitably more theatrical leaders’ summit in The Hague at the end of the month. Much of the focus will be on proposed defence expenditure increases, not least in Britain, where following the publication of the government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) this week there were suggestions that Nato would ‘force’ Keir Starmer to raise defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP. Next week’s spending review should cast light on how feasible this is, given current plans to reach 2.5 per cent by 2027.
At the same time, Europe is bracing for a diplomatic rollercoaster of a month. Overlapping discussions with the US on security, Ukraine and EU-US trade are leaving leaders worrying about their exposure to the whims of Donald Trump’s administration.
At its worst, the emergence of an EU alternative would undermine Nato
For Britain, there are challenges and opportunities.
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