Estonia spending 'almost 7%' of GDP on defense, prime minister says
Estonia's Prime Minister Kristen Michal announced that the country is spending nearly 7% of GDP on defense, urging NATO allies to increase their spending. Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland also meet the 5% threshold.
Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) stated that Estonia is spending almost 7% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defense under NATO's new spending goal. He made the remarks during the opening of this week's NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, calling on allies to boost their defense expenditure.
Under the target set at last year's NATO summit, allies agreed to allocate 5% of GDP to defense in the coming years. This target consists of two parts: 3.5% for core military expenditures (personnel, operations, equipment, maintenance) and 1.5% for security-related spending (cyberdefense, supply chain resilience, critical infrastructure, logistics, defense innovation).
Estonian newspaper Postimees explained that when combined, Estonia's total reaches almost 7%. The state plans to allocate 5.6% of GDP to core military expenditures alone in 2026.
At the summit, Lithuanian officials including the president, foreign and defense ministers, and Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) urged other countries to increase spending and were seen wearing "5% club" badges. Both Lithuania and Estonia already spend at least 5% of GDP on defense, as do Latvia and Poland.
President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X: "Less talk. More action. Join the 5% Club!" Tsahkna added: "The club is open. Join us."
