NATO European Allies almost stop cuts in defense spending: NATO chief

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday welcomed Allies' progress on defense spending, noting at a press conference here that after many years of substantial reductions, the cuts to defense spending among European Allies have now practically stopped.

Stoltenberg made the speech during the presentation of his 2015 annual report.

"The year 2015 showed how insecurity abroad directly affects our security at home, but it also showed that the Alliance is responding," said the NATO chief.

He said NATO had visibly increased its presence in the eastern part of Alliance, adding that, "And to the south, we have agreed to increase the presence of AWACS (airborne warning and control system) early warning aircraft over Turkey."

NATO has tripled the size of its Response Force, with a new Spearhead Force at its core, and is setting up eight small headquarters to facilitate planning and exercises this year.

These measures are part of the most significant reinforcement of NATO's collective defense in decades.

The annual report shows that, among NATO Allies, five member states meet the guideline on spending two percent of GDP or more on defense, and 16 nations spent more than this. However, the United States accounted for 72 percent of the total NATO defense expenditures in 2015.

Stoltenberg emphasized that more needed to be done to increase defense investments in the face of major security challenges, adding that "to the east and to the south, we face the biggest security challenges in a generation."

"In less than six months from now, Allied leaders will meet at our summit in Warsaw. We will take the next steps to strengthen our defense and deterrence," said Stoltenberg. Endit