Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Monday he would likely veto next year’s state budget if it earmarked less than 3 percent of GDP for defence.
“I think I’d veto it. Of course, other aspects need to be considered – you know that vetoing the budget in Lithuania is a yet untested tool,” Nausėda told TV3.
“A lot of other things depend on the budget, and I’d certainly not like people who have nothing to do with this to be affected just because we failed to reach an agreement on this crucial issue,” the president said.
“I hope it won't come to that, because seeing the commitment of the parties, I believe at least 3 percent will be achieved. But I think we can reach even more,” he added.
Lithuania is looking to boost defence funding to 3 percent of GDP to speed up the development of the planned military division and to host the German brigade.
The Finance Ministry a week ago proposed increasing the corporate tax rate by one percentage point, hiking excise duties on fuel, and introducing a tax on some insurance contracts to raise additional funds for defence.
The ministry says these proposals would allow raising defence funding to around 3 percent of GDP for the 2025–2030 period.
In his post-election press conference earlier on Monday, Nausėda, who was re-elected for a second five-year term, promised to push for defence spending to increase to 3.5 percent of GDP in the coming years.
The president told TV3 that 3.5 percent of GDP “is the minimum necessary amount taking into account our procurement schedule and our decisions regarding infrastructure implementation”.
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