Estonia approved an additional defense financing bill of 2.8 billion euros of four years in order to achieve NATO capacity targets. The new expenses will push the Baltic country to an average defense expenditure of 5.4% of GDP at 2029, against the previous levels of approximately 3.4%.
“We have made a historic decision from the point of view of the Estonian national defense. We have never allocated so much additional money to national defense in one year in Estonia, “said Hanno Pevkur, Estonian Minister of Defense.
“Already next year, defense expenses will reach around 5.4% of GDP, more than 2% in a year, and he will stay there for quite a long time,” noted Pevkur.
“The average at four years is also 5.4%, which will give us the opportunity to achieve the military capacity objectives on which we have agreed in NATO,” he added.
The government's decision to increase defense spending will result in a substantial increase in the number of military, equipment and stock capacities as well as more ammunition for Estonian Defense Forces (EDF).
A more average air defense, additional engineers, long -term recognition battalions, long -term strike capacities, modern communication systems, increased naval capacities, additional people, among others, must be included in the new bill.
EDF chief, General Andrus Merilo, said that the need to strengthen the defense of Estonia comes from a deteriorated security environment caused by the large -scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. He also cited Russia by strengthening his operational capacities as another threat to Estonia.
According to Merilo, Estonia must not only catch up with the development of the enemy's capacities, but even go beyond it. Additional funding approved by the government decision will be used for this purpose.
“Our security policy situation simply puts us in this position, and to be ready for our tasks, we must not only follow the military development of our opponent, but if possible, take at least one step forward with our allies in the coming years,” said Merilo.
The new plans in Estonia are taking place a few weeks before the next NATO summit, which will take place in The Hague from June 24 to 25. They also come after US President Donald Trump threatened to shake the alliance if his requests for a revised 5% figure are not satisfied.
Trump had previously called NATO members to “support pigs” in Washington for their safety. The 47th American president said that the European allies did not invest in their defense, leaving their defense to NATO, and more broadly in the United States.
He also called the 2% of the objectives agreed by members under the former secretary general of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, “pathetic”, threatening to remove the United States of NATO if the members do not reach defense expenses of at least 5% of GDP.
