ILINIUS, Lithuania (AP) – Lithuania has decided to increase defense spending from 5% to 6% of the country's gross economic product starting in 2026, citing the threat of Russian aggression in the region, Lithuania's Gitanas said. President Nauseda said on Friday.
In the three Baltic states that border Russia, spending is currently just over 3%. The president's pledge makes it the first NATO member to commit to achieving the 5% goal recently called for by President-elect Donald Trump.
Nauseda said a “historic decision” was taken by the Defense Council on Friday to achieve that level by 2026-2030.
“The possibility of a Russian military invasion remains real, but not imminent. We need to step up efforts to significantly strengthen our defense and deterrence capabilities and commit more resources to that end.” Nauda spoke to reporters after a meeting in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
If this goal is achieved, Lithuania will become the NATO country with the highest defense spending as a percentage of economic output. The current leader is already spending more than 4% in Poland and has plans to increase spending further.
President Trump has long expressed skepticism about NATO, openly questioning the value of the alliance that has defined American foreign policy for decades and calling for member states to fail to meet defense spending targets. They are threatening not to defend it.
Earlier this month, President Trump said NATO countries should spend at least 5% of their GDP on defense, up from the current goal of 2%. He also said he would not rule out the possibility of using military force to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“Our security is also guaranteed by our membership in the NATO alliance, but it is only effective if we are ready to defend ourselves,” Nauseda said.
Defense Minister Dovir Sakarine told a press conference alongside the president that the additional funds will be used to prepay for Leopard tanks, air defense systems and other equipment and help speed up deliveries.
Sakarine is part of a new centre-left government that took office last year and said it would make security a top priority for the country of just under 3 million people. One of its early actions last month raised the state's international borrowing limit to allow it to borrow more money for defense investments.
Trump's call for a significant increase in defense spending has received mixed reactions from European North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders, with some emphasizing the difficulty of significantly increasing spending.
For example, in 2022, when Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Spain's defense spending was just 1%, but it has since increased it to 1.5%.
But those on NATO's Eastern Front, who feel most vulnerable, have bought into the idea, and many believe that it is better to spend expensively on defense now to protect themselves in the event of a Russian invasion later. I believe it's much cheaper than defending.
“As a Union and as a European NATO ally, we need to strengthen Europe's own security and defense capabilities,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Friday. There is,” he said.
“This means most of us need to be ready to rapidly increase defense spending,” Kristersson added, without mentioning the Lithuanian decision or President Trump. .
Margarita Seselgite, director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius, argues that an increase in defense spending is necessary because Russia shows no signs of slowing down in the nearly three-year-old war in Ukraine.
“We are a frontline nation and should act as such. The war is on and Russian military production is running at full capacity,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press this week. “The new U.S. administration adds uncertainty to Ukraine's future situation. The U.S. is losing its desire to be here, so we need to accelerate our security investments.”
She acknowledged that funding weapons purchases and other investments would pose questions about where the money would come from, which would undoubtedly “put a huge strain on the budget.”
Due to recent economic growth, Lithuania is in a position to borrow internationally.
“Economies in democracies cannot function in such a system for long, but now we need an explosion of commitment and investment,” Sessergite said.
