Nato defence ministers have agreed a package of measures to fill a gaping budget shortfall of hundreds of millions of euros, alliance Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced Friday. "Ministers have agreed a package of measures to ensure that our soldiers get the support they need in the field, and that we can make the other strategic investments we still need," he said at talks in Istanbul, Turkey.
"Solidarity in Nato means on the front line, but it also includes on the bottom line," he told the ministers. A Nato official said the budget hole would amount to around 640 million euros (878 million dollars) this year in the alliance's investment budget. A separate budget funding military operations is unlikely to be greatly effected.
To address the problem, the ministers agreed to inject fresh money into the investment budget this year, to reform the budgetary system and to "make savings", she said, without providing details.