Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has called on NATO to step up the implementation of future military funding commitments.
With the United States pressing allies to allocate 5 percent of their GDP to defence, diplomats say NATO countries will seek to agree on this commitment by splitting it into two parts at the upcoming summit in The Hague later in June.
The proposal is to increase direct defence funding to 3.5 percent of GDP and to allocate additional 1.5 percent to defence-related needs such as the development of dual-use infrastructure.
NATO countries are considering a 2032 deadline for such a commitment, but Nausėda argues that this should be done within the next five years.
As the leaders of eastern and northern NATO countries gather in Vilnius on Monday to discuss the upcoming summit in The Hague, Nausėda says that “Russia is not waiting” and is seeking to reform its military forces immediately.
“We have very limited time to do the same. I think we should talk about three to five years,” the Lithuanian president told reporters at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in central Vilnius.
“I hope we will be able to reach the agreement regarding the 5 percent of GDP target, which is a reality in my country,” Nauseda said. “There is no need to talk about long timetables or transitional periods of 2035–2040. No, we have at most five years to take very solid and committed action.”
The meeting is aimed at aligning regional positions ahead of NATO’s summit in The Hague.
NATO members are currently committed to spending 2 percent of GDP on defence, although not all of them have yet reached the target.
So far, the Baltic countries and Poland have publicly announced plans to allocate 5 percent of GDP or more for military spending.
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