World
Defence spending
Luxembourg charts a cautious path to NATO's 5% goal, one tenth of a point at a time
Luxembourg's Defence Minister Yuriko Backes presented a roadmap on 20 May 2026 raising military spending by 0.1 points of GNI annually to 2.3% (EUR 1,665 million) by 2029, an incremental first step toward NATO's 5%-by-2035 pledge. The national finance council puts the cumulative extra cost at EUR 13.4 billion, with annual spending set to nearly quadruple. Backes rejected an "arms race" framing.