NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says he expects Canada to indicate when it will reach the alliance’s goal of spending two percent of GDP on defense.
In an exclusive Canadian interview broadcast on CTV news channel’s Power Play with Vassy Kapelos on Tuesday, Stoltenberg said Canada has yet to set a precise date for meeting its spending commitment.
“But I hope Canada keeps its promise to invest two percent of its GDP in defense, because it’s a promise we all made,” Stoltenberg said, noting Canada’s geographic importance on the world stage as the country with the second-largest coastline. long. .
“Canada is a great economy, (and) a member of the G7… It really matters what Canada does,” he added, also citing Canada’s announcements about increased funding for Norad, plans to buy F fighter jets -35 and a greater presence. in Latvia as it moves in the right direction.
“All this is good, all this matters,” Stoltenberg also said. “But of course Canada should, like all other allies, keep its promise to invest two per cent, because we need it in a more dangerous world.”
Canada has long faced calls to spend at least two per cent of its GDP on defence, the target agreed upon by NATO member countries more than a decade ago.
Last summer, at a meeting of NATO members in Vilnius, Lithuania, for the alliance’s annual meeting, Canada recommitted to reaching the two percent target and endorsed Stoltenberg’s intention for that figure to become the minimum requirement.
In 2024, the number of NATO members expected to reach the 2 percent target has increased from 11 to 18, but Canada is not among them. There are currently 31 members of NATO.
When Kapelos asked if it was important to set a date by which Canada hopes to reach the goal, Stoltenberg said yes.
“We expect 18 allies to spend two percent of GDP on defense in 2024,” he said. “But then we hope that those who have not yet reached two percent have plans to get there as soon as possible.”
Last week, also in an interview on CTV news channel’s Power Play, Defense Minister Bill Blair told Kapelos that Canada is on a “positive and upward trajectory,” but did not say whether the federal government has a date limit in mind to achieve the goal.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported last April that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately told NATO allies that Canada will never deliver on its spending promise.
At a news conference in British Columbia on Tuesday, Trudeau responded to Stoltenberg’s comments about setting a target date, saying Canada needs to “continue to step up, and we have done that as a government.”
“We will continue to be there to collaborate with our NATO partners, we will continue to be there to continue to ensure that the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces have the equipment they need and that our allies can count on us to continue to be there.”
But when asked if he had a date in mind, Trudeau did not specify, saying only that the federal government “will continue to present our budgets and our proposals at the appropriate time.”
In his interview, Stoltenberg also discussed the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic, who died in prison last week.
The 47-year-old was serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges.
Many world leaders blame Putin for Navalny’s death, but Stoltenberg did not specifically say whether he holds the Russian president responsible.
“He was in the custody of the Russian authorities and therefore they have responsibility for his well-being and therefore they are also responsible for everything that has happened to him,” he said. “And it just shows the oppressive nature of the Putin regime and how they never accept anyone to stand up to Putin.”
“The best way to support the memory and honor the memory of Navalny is to support Ukraine,” Stoltenberg also stated.
The Secretary General also spoke about the war in Ukraine, as this weekend marks the second anniversary of the Russian invasion.
With files from CTV’s Question Period Senior Producer Stephanie Ha