NATO European members mull raising defense spending to 3% of GDP

European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began discussing a plan to gradually increase defense spending to 3 percent of GDP by 2030, reported Xinhua, quoting Financial Times on Thursday.

Preliminary talks took place at last week's foreign ministers' meeting, during which members envisaged "a short-term pledge to hit 2.5 percent and, by 2030, a target of 3 percent."

The report said the decision could be made at the next NATO summit, which will take place in June 2025 in The Hague.

The current target, agreed on in 2014, is 2 percent of GDP. The report added that increasing it to 3 percent would "put intense pressure on already strained national budgets. "

Seven European NATO members, including Italy and Spain, have not reached the 2 percent target in 2024. Germany reached the target for the first time this year.

The increase in defense spending comes as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has been demanding Europe pay more for its own security, is to take office in January.