President-elect Donald Trump's call for European members of the NATO alliance to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP - more than double the treaty target of 2% - has received support from the Polish government, according to POLITICO.
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz proposed that his country, which already spends close to 5% of its GDP, can be the "transatlantic link" between the United States and other European governments, which are far more hesitant to hit the 2% mark, let alone 5%, due to budgetary and political constraints.
The Polish minister said that it would take another decade to reach the goal of 5%, but that otherwise "there will be some countries that will continue to debate whether more spending is really needed."
Donald Trump has been a consistent critic of NATO and repeatedly accused European NATO allies of free-riding on the alliance by not paying even the minimum of 2% despite increased threats to the alliance, especially following Russia's declaration of open war on Ukraine and other efforts to sabotage western infrastructure.
For their part, European countries have deflected the criticism by focusing on the importance of the alliance as such while avoiding questions of who pays for what and at what time.
While countries such as Poland and the Baltic states have greatly increased their spending in response to the Russian threat, countries further to the west remain behind, sometimes very behind.
The Czech Republic said that it will hit 2% for the first time this year. Sweden believes it important to spend more. Meanwhile, Britain, France, and Germany are wavering.
POLITICO reported that "there is a growing consensus among allies that the current 2-percent goal has to be increased. It’s insufficient to meet regional defense plans and NATO’s overall military capability targets as the alliance reacts to the threat posed by Russia."
0 Comments