The defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have signed an agreement calling for NATO defense spending to be increased to 5 percent of GDP in order to urgently meet the Alliance’s objectives. They simultaneously urged other member states to follow suit, according to Estonian broadcaster ERR on Saturday. The ministers also expressed support for continued military aid to Ukraine by NATO allies until Ukraine achieves victory in its war against Russia. They reaffirmed each Baltic state’s commitment to allocate at least 0.25 percent of GDP annually to support Ukraine’s security and defense.
Strong Commitments
All three Baltic states, along with Poland, have already pledged to reach the 5 percent target by 2026. However, many NATO countries still have not met the 2 percent of GDP benchmark that has been in place for the past decade, having been adopted at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales. In recent years, defense spending in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia has been around 2.8 to 3.5 percent of GDP.
Hanno Pevkur (Estonia), Andris Spruds (Latvia), and Dovile Sakaliene (Lithuania) agreed that the main goal of the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague (June 24–26) is “to reaffirm the transatlantic bond and demonstrate solidarity and unity among allies.” The Baltic leaders emphasized that cooperation with the United States and a continued U.S. military presence on NATO’s eastern flank are of “strategic importance.” “Together with Latvia and Lithuania, we believe—given the current security situation—that NATO allies must raise their defense spending to 5 percent,” said Estonia’s defense minister.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have also called on NATO’s European allies to dedicate 5 percent of their GDP to defense and security.