The United States Vice President, Mike Pence, has continued to reiterate President Donald Trump’s message to leaders in Europe, telling them that he expects allies to make ‘real progress’ by the end of the year, towards a NATO pledge to spend more on defence.
Speaking at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Mr Pence said that although some NATO members respected their commitment to reach two per cent of Gross Domestic Product on defence spending, others failed to do so.
NATO allies had agreed during their summit in 2014, to reverse years of military cuts, and meet a goal to spend two per cent of economic output on defence by 2024.
The steps were taken after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula, and Islamist attacks in Europe.
However, of European NATO countries, only Britain, Greece, Estonia and Poland have reached the target.
