Who Is Footing The Bill For NATO

1. 78

   Sharlee01posted 23 months ago

   
   Real Time with Bill Maher
   @RealTimers
   ·
   May 14 2022
   Finally – not because of Biden, not because of Trump, not because of Obama, but because of Putin – the Europeans are starting to pay their fair share for NATO defense.
   
   No Bill, unfortunately, most nations are not living up to their promise.
   27th April 2022
   
   The number of NATO nations meeting or exceeding the alliance's spending target has continued to fall, according to the latest official estimates.
   
   The UK is one of only eight nations out of 30 believed to be hitting the target and remains fourth in the list of proportional spending.
   
   NATO sets alliance members with the aim of spending 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.
   
   Up to June 2021, the alliance estimated that 10 nations were spending 2% or more of their GDP on defence.
   
   But latest estimates show now only eight countries are achieving the target with Romania and France falling below the 2% threshold.
   
   NATO data suggests the UK defense spending as a percentage of GDP dropped by 0.05 percentage points in 2021 to 2.25% from 2.30% from 2020.
   
   Greece remains the alliance's biggest spender as a share of GDP, contributing 3.59%.
   
   The US (3.57%) stays second with Poland (2.34%) third and Croatia, Estonia, and Latvia (2.16%) joint-fifth.
   https://www.forces.net/news/world/nato- … re-defence

   replyreport
   1. 93

      Nathanvilleposted 23 months agoin reply to this

      Yep, the UK is one of just a small number of countries paying their fair share to military defence in NATO; but even then under a right-wing Conservative Government UK spending on military defence has fallen 14.6% since they’ve took power in 2010 e.g. under Labour (a Socialist Government) Defence Spending in the 1990’s was around 3% of the UK’s GDP. 
      
      However, since Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK has donated more military hardware to Ukrainian than any other country except Estonia and the USA.

      replyreport
      1. 95

         Readmikenowposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         There have also been many brave former soldiers from the UK who are fighting for Ukraine.  Like the US soldiers fighting for Ukraine, some have lost their lives and even one was captured by Russia.  In all of Europe, only the UK soldiers are ones I would completely trust when things get real. I used to always hear from the British soldiers that this is because England created the US military, which is true, but we improved it and made it our own.

         replyreport
      2. 78

         Sharlee01posted 23 months agoin reply to this

         It is very much something to be proud of, the UK keeps commitments.

         replyreport
         1. 93

            Nathanvilleposted 23 months agoin reply to this

            Yes, it is something to have some pride in.  However, although the UK has had a long standing track record of acting honourably internationally (keeping international commitments) since before the war e.g. the UK’s commitment to standing up for Poland during the 2nd world war; our current Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) has very little respect for the law.
            
            Not only has Boris Johnson (and his predecessor, Theresa May) on several occasions since 2016 been found to have acted unlawfully in the Supreme Court for breaches of the Constitution; but Boris Johnson is the ONLY Prime Minister in the UK to have ever been found guilty by the police for breaking the law. 
            
            Also, since 2019 Boris Johnson has broken International laws on more than one occasion, and Boris is set to knowingly and deliberately break international law again in the coming weeks; with the consequent that it will most likely spark a trade war with the EU, and scuttle any chance of the UK negotiating a trade agreement with the USA.
            
            So as much as I would like to say that the UK keeps its international commitments, while Boris Johnson, who has little respect for the law, remains Prime Minister the UK can’t be counted on as being a reliable partner.
            
            •    Theresa May (former Prime Minister) challenges Government after it admits proposed Brexit plan 'does break international law' (2020):  https://youtu.be/MdaNo6TDXw0
            
            •    'What were they thinking?': No US-UK trade deal if Good Friday Agreement is broken, threatens Pelosi (2020):  https://youtu.be/PER_lYm_eYA

            replyreport
            1. 78

               Sharlee01posted 23 months agoin reply to this

               Thank you for sharing the articles.

               replyreport