Lithuania has decided to raise its spending on defence to between 5 and 6 per cent of its overall national economic output starting 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 per cent. With the president's pledge, it becomes the first NATO nation to vow to reach a 5 per cent goal recently called for by US President-elect Donald Trump.
Nauseda said the "historic decision" was taken by the State Defence Council on Friday.
Reaching that goal would make Lithuania the NATO country to spend the most on defence as a percentage of its economic output. The current leader is Poland, which already spends more than 4 per cent and plans to go higher.
"The possibility of Russian military aggression is still real, but not imminent. We need to increase our efforts to strengthen defence and deterrence significantly devoting more resources to this end. Our security is also assured by our membership of the NATO alliance, but it will only be effective if we are prepared to defend ourselves," Nauseda said.
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 defence-spending goals.
Earlier this month, Trump said NATO countries should spend at least 5 per cent of their GDP on defence, up from the current 2 per cent target.
Trump also said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark.