As a group of Lithuanian business associations have launched a campaign for 4-percent GDP military spending, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė says they fail to offer any funding sources to meet the target.
“I’m happy that people care and understand that defence costs money, but what I still don’t see in this discussion is a very clear declaration that we not only care [...], but we’re also ready to pay more for it,” she told the radio Žinių Radijas on Thursday.
Šimonytė reiterated that the government can only spend taxpayer money.
“Taxpayers have to somehow voice their choice: either they accept a lower level of social welfare in other areas or agree to pay higher taxes,” she said.
The prime minister said that she would first like to reach the agreed defence spending target of 3 percent of GDP.
Amid discussions about raising military spending, some business associations and companies in Lithuania have announced recently that they are joining the Four Percent initiative by the Lithuanian Business Confederation, the startup association Unicorns Lithuania, and the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists.
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