NATO spokesperson praises Poland for high defence outlays
NATO spokesperson has described Poland as a country which knows how to achieve the alliance's spending target of 5 percent of GDP on defence.
"Poland is providing a great example of how to get to 5 percent quickly and effectively," Allison Hart wrote on the X platform on Tuesday after a meeting of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte with Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski.
Hart added that the meeting focused "on the importance of delivering on The Hague Defence Investment Plan."
Domanski and Rutte met at the NATO Headquarters after a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels to discuss defence financing and the outcome of the June NATO summit in The Hague.
NATO countries agreed at the summit to increase defence spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035. The approved plans provide for purely military outlays reaching at least 3.5 percent of GDP and spending of 1.5 percent of GDP on other needs, including critical infrastructure.
In 2024, 23 countries, out of the 32 alliance members, achieved the previous target of 2 percent of GDP on defence. Poland seems to be very close to the new target as its estimated defence spending amounted to 4.07 percent of GDP last year. This year, Poland plans to spend 4.7 percent of GDP on defence. (PAP) at/mf
