As representatives of the 32 member states of NATO gather for their annual conference in the Netherlands, one of the main topics on the agenda is the need for most European countries to increase their defence spending.
Portugal is one of the lowest NATO contributors with only an estimated 1.58% of its GDP. It is struggling to reach the current minimum target of 2% advocared by NATO for all its 23 European Union members. The Portuguese government says it hopes to reach this goal by 2030.
Some countries, such as Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Greece have significantly surpassed the average spending, but Canada, Italy and Spain like Portugal are lagging behind.
President Trump wants European countries to spend at least 5% of their GDP on defence.
The United States not only contributes more money to NATO (16% of the total) but also the number of active military personnel (1.3 million troops).
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