ROSTOCK, Germany — The U.S. and NATO allies will launch scaled-back drills in the Baltic Sea this week, as conflicts in other regions draw ships away, though the exercise will still send a message of unity and strength to Russia, a senior German military official said.
The annual exercise, held for more than five decades since 1971, brings together some 20 vessels from 15 nations with around…
VIENNA — A NATO air policing jet has shot down what authorities suspect was a Ukrainian drone flying over Estonia, a first after several similar airspace incursions in the Baltic states.
The drone was shot down by a Romanian F-16 fighter jet stationed in Šiauliai…
RIGA, Latvia — Exercising in Latvia’s dense pine and birch forests this week, local troops found themselves in an unfair fight against a new enemy: unmanned ground vehicles.
As NATO tries to keep pace with fast-changing drone warfare, the alliance used Latvia’s Crystal…
NATO says all allies to meet 2% defense-spending target this year
September 1, 2025
PARIS — NATO said all alliance members will spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense this year, the first time for that to happen since the spending target was set more than a decade ago.
Three countries – Poland, Lithuania and Latvia – are on track to meet a more ambitious target for 3.5% spending, set at a meeting just over two months ago, according to data on allied defense spending…
BRUSSELS — NATO defense chiefs were due to hold a virtual meeting Wednesday, a senior alliance official said, as Western countries pushing for an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine devise possible future security guarantees for Kyiv that could help forge a peace…
PARIS — Belgium’s new government vows to boost the defense budget over the coming years to ensure the country, notoriously one of NATO’s worst performers on military spending, starts pulling its weight in the alliance.
The government of Prime Minister Bart De Wever…
