Defence Online

Prime Minister to urge EU leaders to spend more on defence

February 3, 2017

Theresa May is to press the need for EU NATO members to increase their spending on defence at a summit in Malta today.

The Prime Minister will attend the informal meeting with the other 27 EU countries to drive home the need to meet their financial obligations and to reassure them that the UK will continue to meet its international obligations following Brexit.

A spokeswoman for Mrs May said: “We are very clear we want to see a strong and successful EU, now and into the future, that we can have a mature and constructive partnership.” 

Currently, the UK is one of the few treaty members to spend the pledged minimum of 2% of GDP on defence.

Mrs May is expected to tell the heads of the EU states that: “only by investing properly in our defence that we can ensure we are properly equipped to face our shared challenges together.”

The Prime Minister will also provide a brief on her recent meeting with President Trump.

Mrs May was the first world leader to meet with Mr Trump and will reassure those in attendance that he is “100% in support of NATO” and sees it as “the bulwark of our collective defence”.

The President has been highly critical of NATO and what he felt was a lack of financial commitment from its members in terms of their defence budgets.

The Prime Minister will pass on those concerns and warn that the only way meet future security challenges will be through an increase in defence spending.

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Post written by: Matt Brown