NATO: Alliance Defense Spending Expected to Drop in 2015

The world may be a riskier place nowadays, but NATO says the overall spending on defense among its member countries is expected to be lower this year than in 2014

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a media conference prior to a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Dec. 2, 2014. AP Photo/Virginia Mayo

BRUSSELS—The world may be a riskier place nowadays, but NATO says the overall spending on defense among its member countries is expected to be lower this year than in 2014.

U.S. President Barack Obama and other NATO leaders last fall committed their countries to hike defense spending over time to 2 percent of gross domestic product. But NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday only five nations will hit that target in 2015: the U.S., Britain, Greece, Poland and Estonia.

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He said defense spending in 18 other countries is also expected to rise, but still the alliance-wide total is expected to continue to drop in 2015.

Stoltenberg said he'd raise the issue with alliance defense ministers later this week. He said NATO “cannot do more with less indefinitely.”