Belgium faces consequences over low NATO contributions

One of NATO's agencies is considering relocating from Belgium, where the organisation's headquarters are situated, due to the country's low contributions to the organisation's overall military budget.

"To encourage the country to invest more in defence, NATO might threaten to move the Communications and Information Agency to the Netherlands or Germany. Such a move would be a significant loss for the local economy," Caliber.Az reports citing the foreign media.

This situation pertains to NATO's agreement that member states should allocate at least two per cent of their GDP to defence. Belgium, along with several other countries, has not met this target, despite the agreement being established a decade ago in 2014.

The NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency was created in 2012 as a result of a merger of NATO C3 organisations, namely: The NATO Communication and Information Systems Services Agency (NCSA), the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A), the NATO Air Command and Control System Management Agency (NACMA), the NATO Headquarters Information and Communication Technology Service (ICTM), and the Programme Office for NATO's Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD). The Agency helps NATO and its member countries fulfil their mission – preserve peace and security for nearly one billion citizens.