BRUSSELS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said NATO Allies made progress on defense spending in 2017.
Presenting his annual report at the press conference, Stoltenberg said the report shows that, in 2017, European Allies and Canada increased spending on defense by almost 5 percent.
Stoltenberg added that NATO Europe and Canada defense spending has now increased for three consecutive years since 2014.
NATO Allies have added 18 billion dollars to spending on major equipment in three years.
"All NATO members have pledged to continue to increase defense spending in real terms. The majority have already put in place plans on how to meet the 2 percent guideline by 2024. And we expect others to follow", Stoltenberg said.
The report also shows that NATO Allies are contributing more to operations and missions. "At the end of 2017, there were over 23,000 troops serving in NATO deployments. Up from just under 18,000 in 2014," he said.
NATO Allies agreed to stop cuts to their defense budgets and move towards spending 2 percent of their GDP on defense within a decade in 2014 at NATO's summit.
