NATO's European members must raise defence spending to bridge the gap with the United States, or risk "serious and detrimental consequences" for the future of the alliance, a British parliamentary committee warned in a report
published this morning.
"If NATO is to remain a credible military organisation then we believe that all of its members must fulfil their commitments to improve capabilities," said the report by the Commons Defence Committee.
"This means having defence budgets which effectively deliver those capabilities."
It said that a forthcoming NATO summit in Prague "provides the opportunity for change, and a failure to address the issues there could have serious and detrimental consequences for the future of NATO".
At NATO's summit in Prague this November, government leaders are due to make key decisions over enlargement of the alliance.
A total of 10 countries wish to join NATO. They are Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
AFP