Hagel calls on NATO allies must step up defense spending. (2% of their GDP)

1. From Robert Burns, AP:  U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday the European allies must start bearing more of the burden of modernizing NATO or risk it becoming irrelevant. . . .

"As European economies recover, leaders must make the case for renewed investment in military capability," he said. "The current path is not sustainable. Our alliance can endure only as long as we are willing to fight for it,and invest in it."

He added, "If the alliance is to remain effective, adaptable, and relevant, rebalancing NATO's burden-sharing and capabilities is mandatory - not elective."


2. From Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal:  U.S. officials remain worried that European defense budgets will fall further in response to American cutbacks. Mr. Hagel reminded NATO members that the U.S. continues to make the largest military contribution to the alliance.

"So adjustments in the U.S. defense budget cannot become an excuse for further cuts in European defense spending," Mr. Hagel said.

Urging European leaders to spend more on defense—or at least not cut further—has become a recurring theme among recent Pentagon chiefs. Both former Defense Secretaries Robert Gates and Leon Panetta came to Brussels and delivered speeches chiding Europe for failing to invest in military technology, aerial refueling, drones and advanced munitions.

3. From Phil Stewart, Reuters:  Hagel cited the need to increase NATO's air-to-air refueling capacity, after the 2011 Libya conflict demonstrated a shortage of tanker aircraft. He said Libya also exposed NATO shortcomings in other areas, including a lack of precision-guided munitions stocks.

"We saw these gaps once again among allied militaries in preparing potential U.S.-led responses to the Syrian regime's heinous use of chemical weapons," he said, referring to the U.S. threat last year to conducted limited military strikes on Syrian targets.

Hagel said if leaders of NATO-member nations believed in the value of the alliance, then they would make the case to their legislators and taxpayers. 
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/hagel-says-europeans-should-step-up-nato-support
26/4/14
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• Kerry urges NATO members to increase defense budget. --["Freedom isn't free"]

• U.S. reaffirms commitment to collective defense of NATO allies

• L'Otan renforce ses mesures de défense air-mer-terre en Europe orientale. --Further measures to respond to the crisis in Ukraine [Collective Defence]

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• (Reuters) - NATO's European members need to increase their defense spending in light of Russia's action in Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in planned remarks released on Friday.

"We must see renewed financial commitments from all NATO members," Hagel said in excerpts from a speech on the NATO alliance to be delivered at the Wilson Center and released by the Pentagon.
Hagel's comments come amid increased violence between Ukraine loyalists and Russian separatists despite an international peace deal, and echoed calls by other top U.S. officials this week for NATO members to shore up their commitments.

The level of defense spending by NATO allies has been a longstanding concern of U.S. defense secretaries. Only a handful of the 28 countries actually spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense as agreed under the NATO partnership.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also urged NATO allies not meeting the 2 percent benchmark to boost their payments to the alliance in the next five years.
Russia's recent incursion in Ukraine has rekindled concerns among NATO allies. On Friday, pro-Russian rebels shot down two Ukrainian helicopters, killing two people, as Ukrainian forces tightened their siege of separatist-held Slaviansk..............................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/02/us-usa-nato-hagel-idUSBREA410EX20140502?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
2/5/14
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