President Gitanas Nausėda says he believes that Lithuania should spend at least 3.5 percent of its GDP on defence each year.
“My strong wish is that we do not fall below 3 percent of GDP and, if possible, increase it to at least 3.5 percent annually,” Nausėda said after Friday’s meeting with the Board of the Seimas.
“We have already assessed what it would take to achieve our plans to modernise the Lithuanian Armed Forces and host the German brigade smoothly,” he added.
According to the president, military spending should be increased “not just for one year, but year after year” to meet the set goals.
Parliament Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, who is also the leader of the Liberal Movement party, reiterated her call to update political parties’ 2022 “national agreement” on security and defence to include long-term, sustainable funding sources for defence.
“Individual tax initiatives will not solve the long-term funding needs,” she said. “Political forces committed to our secure future should seek consensus on this crucial issue.”
The current security and defence agreement does not include specific commitments on defence funding, but the parliament decided earlier this year to raise some taxes to boost military spending to at least 3 percent of GDP.
With additional allocations, this year’s defence budget has already reached around 3.2 percent of GDP.
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