Strengthening defence and emergency preparedness is one of the Government’s main priorities in the years to come.
“Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has changed the security landscape in Europe. We must continue to strengthen the Norwegian Armed Forces and the defence alliance that we are a part of. We are therefore announcing that Norway will increase its defence spending to a minimum of 2 % of our gross domestic product by 2026 and we will draw up a plan setting out how we will achieve this,” said Prime Minister Jonah Gahr Støre.
In 2014, all NATO member countries agreed to meet the 2 % of GDP defence investment guideline by 2024. Nearly ten years have now passed since this goal was set without the specification of a clear Norwegian commitment of 2 % of its GDP. Norway will announce its plan to meet this goal and outline how that will be done at the NATO Summit in Vilnius in June.
“For decades we have enjoyed the benefits of peace and now the price of our insurance premium has gone up. We must devote more of our common resources to defence, security and emergency preparedness. It is necessary to further increase allocations to the Norwegian Armed Forces in the years ahead. And it is necessary for Norway to commit to reaching the 2 % goal by 2026,” said Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum.