NATO and defence budgets
NATO member states are increasing their defence spending
Bogdan Matei, 16.10.2025, 14:00
Romania is fully committed to the allied efforts to ensure the security and stability of the Eastern Flank, Defense Minister Ionuţ Moşteanu told his counterparts from other NATO member states, at the meeting organized at the Alliance Headquarters in Brussels. “Moreover, considering that Romania is one of the allied states affected by numerous incidents of drone airspace violation, we support the development of several initiatives at NATO level to provide a collective response to them. It is a pragmatic way to counter emerging threats”, Moşteanu said, according to a press release from the Defense Ministry in Bucharest.
According to the source, at the meeting, special attention was paid to fulfilling the allied commitment to invest in defense up to 5% of the Gross Domestic Product by 2035, as well as to ways to increase the production capacity of the defense industry. Nine NATO member states have so far announced deliveries of military equipment and personnel to contribute to the Eastern Sentry Operation, intended to additionally protect the states on the eastern flank, including Romania, from possible incidents with drones or Russian aircraft. The Radio Romania correspondent in Brussels reports that more than half of the 32 member states have announced purchases of American military equipment to support Ukraine, invaded by Russian troops, through the most recent delivery program for Kyiv.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said that peace comes “not when you use strong words or wag your finger”, but “when you have strong and real capabilities that adversaries respect, and I think that’s what NATO is doing now.” Hegseth also said that the United States and its allies would take the necessary measures to make Russia pay for its continued aggression. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted, for his part, that the Alliance is much stronger than Russia. In terms of budget, he added, NATO countries have $50 trillion to spend, compared to just $2 trillion for the Russians.
Almost simultaneously with the Brussels meeting, the Lithuanian government announced that it would allocate 5.38% of its gross domestic product to defense next year, which is almost five billion euros. This is a record for this Baltic country, a former Soviet republic and neighbor of Russia. According to Western analysts, the increase in military spending is caused by the deterioration of the security situation in the region. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Lithuanians fear that they could become one of Moscow’s next targets. Also on the Baltic Sea, Estonia has reserved 5% of its GDP for defence, while Latvia plans to allocate 4.91 percent. (MI)
