Finding more money
Last week, the Lithuanian government announced Vilnius will spend between 5 percent and 6 percent of GDP on defense from next year to 2030 — earning praise from the European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius, a former Lithuanian PM.
The spending announcement “is not specifically tailored” to U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for 5 percent of GDP to become NATO’s new target, Šakalienė said, calling it “just a lucky coincidence.”
One key question, however, is where the money will come from. This week, President Gitanas Nausėda said Lithuania would need to spend an additional €12 billion to €13 billion to reach its 2030 goals; in 2024, the country spent €2.1 billion on defense.
Šakalienė said her country isn’t planning to slash the welfare state to boost the military budget. That’s in contrast to recent comments from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who suggested that social spending should be reduced to free up cash for defense.
“Taking certain austerity measures to cut our education, health care, social affairs to fund defense is not a sustainable solution,” the defense minister argued.
Spending as much as 6 percent of GDP on the military will require a mix of national and EU money, she said. “Of course, [the increase] is coming from our budget. But part of it we will have to be through European financial instruments.”
