Poland: NATO countries won’t hit 5% defense spending target for 10 years
Photo: Polish Minister of Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (Getty Images)
Poland supports the demand of elected President Donald Trump for NATO countries to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP. However, Warsaw believes this will only happen in 10 years, states Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz in an interview with the Financial Times.
It is noted that Poland is closest to reaching the new target. The country has allocated 4.7% of its GDP to defense this year, the highest in NATO.
Ahead of his return to the White House, Trump increased pressure on NATO allies to spend more on defense. Currently, only 23 out of 32 members have reached the 2% of GDP target.
"Achieving Trump's target will take decades, but I think he should not be criticized for setting such an ambitious goal because otherwise, some countries will continue to debate whether additional spending is truly necessary," said Poland's defense minister.
Błaszczak emphasized that the EU has opportunities for reallocating funds. According to the minister, his priority is ensuring the allocation of €100 billion for defense in the coming years, including redirecting unused funds from the €800 billion pandemic recovery fund, which ends next year.
"If we can afford to go into debt to rebuild after COVID, we definitely need to find the money to protect ourselves from war," he stated.
It is worth noting that elected President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of the US leaving NATO. He links US participation in NATO to funding, which he believes should be provided by European partners. Trump demands that alliance members increase defense spending to 5% of their annual GDP.
According to Western media, NATO does not support Trump's idea of defense spending, but member countries are likely to agree to it.
