President Andrzej Duda has urged bloc members to take a position not less than 3% of their GDP in collective protection to counter Russia
Polish President Andrzej Duda has despatched a proper letter to the leaders of fellow NATO states, urging them to spice up the minimal spending requirement for collective protection, the Rzeczpospolita information outlet reported on Thursday.
In a press release issued after a gathering in Brussels to commemorate the seventy fifth anniversary of the signing of NATO’s founding doc, Duda argued that the present minimal navy spending threshold of two% of GDP, which was established in 2014, was “not sufficient.” He instructed boosting it to three% and stated the proposal was “the idea for the constant growth of safety all through the Euro-Atlantic space.”
The Polish chief insisted that the bloc should take this “pure and elementary step” in an effort to counter Russia’s supposed “imperial coverage,” and as a response to rising tensions within the Center East and the Pacific.
Duda additionally instructed that the US and the UK shouldn’t be the one NATO international locations to have highly effective armies, claiming that “the occasions of peace are over,” and that every one bloc members ought to enhance their navy potential and concentrate on equipping their armed forces with essentially the most fashionable technological capabilities.
His assertion comes as Warsaw introduced plans to double the scale of its navy by 2035 in response to the Russia-Ukraine battle. The nation has additionally ramped up its protection spending this 12 months to greater than 4% of its GDP in response to what Duda has referred to as “the rising hazard past our japanese border.”
NATO’s spending tips have been a sticking level amongst its members lately, as most states have failed to satisfy the two% minimal. As lately as 2014, solely three NATO international locations had met the goal.
Former US President Donald Trump has even instructed over the course of his 2024 election marketing campaign that the US shouldn’t defend any NATO states that fail to contribute ample sources for their very own defenses.
UK Protection Secretary Grant Shapps additionally claimed in a latest interview with The Telegraph that any NATO members that don’t spend not less than 2% of their GDP on protection have been taking part in “Russian roulette,” and instructed that the West had moved “from a post-war to a pre-war world.”
Whereas quite a few Western leaders have lately warned that Russia might assault NATO inside just a few years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed such claims as “utter nonsense” designed to “beat the cash out” of the populations of Western international locations.
You may share this story on social media: