Are the Lithuanians worried?
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The State Defence Council (VGT), which includes Lithuania’s top political and military leaders, has agreed to dedicate 5.5 percent of GDP to military spending over the coming five years.
“We have agreed that in the period 2026–2030 we will allocate between 5 and 6 percent of gross domestic product to defence annually,” President Gitanas Nausėda told reporters after the VGT meeting on Friday.
The additional spending is needed to build up a military divisions within the Lithuanian armed forces faster.
Next year’s state budget initially allocated about 2.5 billion euros for defence, or just over 3 percent of GDP. However, the new government increased the 2025 borrowing limit by roughly 800 million euros, and borrowing this full amount could raise defence spending to 4 percent of GDP.
According to the president, there are no plans to raise taxes in order to meet the military spending targets. Instead, Nausėda said, the increase will be covered by borrowing and cutting public spending elsewhere.
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If I were them, I would be worried.
The ones I'm most disappointed in are the Germans, however.
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If I were them, I would be worried.
The ones I'm most disappointed in are the Germans, however.
@Jolly said in Are the Lithuanians worried?:
The ones I'm most disappointed in are the Germans, however.
It's fair to say that that statement could have been on a number of occasions throughout history, but typically not about a lack of military investment.
