NATO’s Lithuania Says It Will Boost Defence Spending to Five Per Cent as Demanded by President Trump

ILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) – Lithuania has decided to raise its spending on defense to between 5% and 6% of overall national economic output starting in 2026 due to the threat of Russian aggression in the region, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said Friday.

The Baltic nation, which borders Russia, currently spends a bit over 3%. With the president’s pledge, it becomes the first NATO nation to vow to reach a 5% goal recently called for by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Nauseda said the “historic decision” was taken by the State Defense Council on Friday to achieve that level from 2026 to 2030.

“The possibility of Russian military aggression is still real, but not imminent. We need to increase our efforts to strengthen defense and deterrence significantly, devoting more resources to this end,” Nauseda told reporters after the meeting in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

Reaching that goal would make Lithuania the NATO country spending the most on defense as a percentage of its economic output. The current leader is Poland, which already spends more than 4% and plans to go higher.

Trump has for years expressed skepticism about NATO, openly questioning the value of the alliance that has defined American foreign policy for decades and threatening not to defend members that fail to meet defense-spending goals.

Earlier this month, Trump said NATO countries should spend at least 5% of GDP on defense, up from the current 2% target. He also said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of Greenland, an autonomous territory belonging to NATO member Denmark.

“Our security is also assured by our membership in the NATO alliance, but it will only be effective if we are prepared to defend ourselves,” Nauseda said.

Speaking at the news conference alongside the president, Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said the additional financing would go toward advance payments on Leopard tanks, air defense systems and other equipment, which will help to accelerate deliveries.

Sakaliene is part of a new center-left government that took office last year vowing to make security a key priority for the nation of just under 3 million people. In one of its early moves last month it increased the state’s international borrowing limit in order to be able to borrow more money for defense investments.

There has been a mixed reaction from European NATO leaders to Trump’s call to massively raise investments on defense, with some stressing the difficulty of raising their spending so dramatically.

Spain, for instance, was only spending 1% on defense in 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and has since raised it to 1.5%.

However those on NATO’s eastern front who feel most vulnerable are embracing the idea, and many believe costly expenditures on defense now will be far less expensive than having to defend themselves in case of Russian aggression later.

“We as a union and as European NATO allies need to strengthen Europe´s own security and defense capabilities,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Friday at a meeting in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“That implies that most of us need to be prepared to rapidly increase our defense spending,” Kristersson added, without referring to the Lithuanian decision or to Trump.

Margarita Seselgyte, the director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius, argues that increased defense spending is needed because Russia shows no sign of relenting in its nearly three-year war in Ukraine.

“We are a front-line state and should act like one. The war is ongoing and Russia´s military production is functioning at full capacity,” she said in an interview this week with The Associated Press. “The new administration in the U.S. adds uncertainty to the future situation in Ukraine. America is losing its appetite to be present here, so we need to speed up investments in our security.”

She acknowledges that financing the purchases of weapons and other investments raises the question of where that money should comes from, and undoubtedly “would stress the budget significantly.”

Because of Lithuania’s recent economic growth, it is an strong position to borrow internationally.

“The economy of a democratic country cannot function in such a regime for long periods, but right now we need a burst of initiatives and investments,” Seselgyte said.