Today’s news / Denmark climbs from bottom to top in NATO spending
Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen expects accolades at the NATO summit following Denmark's large investments in recent years. (Archive photo) Photo: Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark climbs from bottom to top in NATO spending

Denmark, which has long been criticized for insufficient defense spending, heads into the NATO summit as a leading nation, having exceeded the minimum 2% GNP defense spending goal. Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen anticipates no criticism of Denmark at the meeting in Washington, citing a fully funded, broadly supported ten-year plan. Last year, Denmark was estimated at 1.65% GNP on defense but reported spending 2.01%. Now, after including Ukraine aid in the calculations, Denmark’s contribution is at 2.37%, ranking it seventh among NATO members. Additionally, Denmark has jumped from last to 21st place in investing at least 20% of defense spending on equipment. Five more NATO countries have surpassed the 2% mark since last year, bringing the total to 23. Spain remains at the bottom with 1.28%, while Poland leads at 4.12%.