Canada and other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agreed in 2014 to increase defense spending to 2% of their national gross domestic product. This goal should also be in the foreground when the leaders of the military alliance meet in Spain on Wednesday.

But the new report, released on Monday by the Secretary General of theNatoJens Stoltenberg estimates that Canada’s defense spending will actually decline as a percentage this year GDP. According to NATO, that spending would rise to 1.27% this year, compared to 1.32% last year and 1.42% in 2020.

The report does not explain this decline, nor does it take into account the $8 billion in new military spending promised in the April federal budget, but the target for which the Liberal government has not clearly defined.

Asked about the NATO report at the closing press conference of the G7 meeting in Germany on Tuesday, as he prepared for his trip to Madrid, Trudeau said his government had announced several new investments important.

This includes $4.9 billion to modernize the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), as well as plans to purchase new fighter jets to replace aging CF-18s.

Field Obligations

The Prime Minister also said that Canada has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to the Atlantic Alliance by deploying troops and equipment in various missions, including commanding NATO’s multinational force in Latvia.

Canada is still part of NATO missions and continues to play a significant role in themargued Mr. Trudeau.

” We know the importance of taking action and we will continue to do so to ensure the world knows it can count on Canada to advance the cause of democracy, the rule of law and opportunity for all . »

However, Trudeau dodged the question of Canada’s willingness to send more troops to Latvia as NATO seeks to double the size of its forces in the Baltics in response to the US invasion by Russia.

Latvia’s ambassador to Ottawa told The Canadian Press earlier this week that Canada is in talks with allies about strengthening the Canadian military-led battle group in its country.

Battlegroup in Latvia is one of four battlegroups created by NATO in 2017. Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States each command a Battlegroup in Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland.

Germany and Britain have said in recent weeks that they are ready to lead larger combat groups in Lithuania and Estonia, but Canada has so far remained silent on its intentions in Latvia.

Mr. Trudeau also did not indicate on Tuesday whether Canada is ready to deploy more military high readiness – Secretary General Stoltenberg announced Monday that NATO plans to increase the number of military personnel from 40,000 to 300,000 to one high level of preparation.

We have worked closely with NATO partners, with the NATO Secretary General and most importantly with Latvia, where Canada is a leader [groupement tactique] and pledges to ensure we continue to stand against Russiasaid Trudeau on Tuesday.

Like others, we plan to scale quicklyhe added. And these are talks that I’m really looking forward to over the next two days. to Madrid.