Two NATO countries, under pressure from US President Donald Trump, agreed to spend 5% of GDP defense.
Lithuania and Estonia were the first countries of the North Atlantic Alliance to promise to spend more than 5% of their internal gross product on defense.
It is noted that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kicentutis Budris emphasized in an interview with the publication that Europe is faced with the “new era”.
Of course, there is pressure, and this is a good and constructive pressure from our strategic and largest ally in NATO. We cannot ignore these messages. But this is not the only reason … It is vital for us to have real opportunities for the war, ”Budris noted and added that a sharp increase in defense expenses will be financed through state borrowings.
And the head of the Estonian government Kristen Michal said that his country also intends to allocate 5% of GDP for defense expenses instead of the current 3.7%.
Our key security partner under the new President sent a clear signal: NATO expenses should increase. We know our opponent, and I completely agree – our goal should be 5%, ”he said.
FT writes that other NATO countries are also considering the possibility of increasing their expenses for defense, although not to the level that Donald Trump required.
We will remind, earlier US President Donald Trump said that “he would ask all our NATO countries to increase defense costs to 5 percent of the gross domestic product, which was supposed to be many years ago.” Currently, the targeted expenses of the North Atlantic Alliance are 2%, and 24 out of 32 countries reach this.
Source: Financial Times
Source: Racurs
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