In the future, NATO members will have to allocate 5 percent of GDP for defense. For many countries, this is a huge challenge, as the money is lacking. Where is Bulgaria?
What does the new target mean for individual countries?
Italy has a problem with the new target
Italy is divided on the issue of defense spending. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has so far followed the NATO and EU line. Just a few days ago, she publicly emphasized the importance of the modernization of the Alliance, as well as the fact that higher defense spending in Italy does not only mean tanks, but also investments in cybersecurity, for example. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto stands behind it: in recent years he has repeatedly stated that it is important for him that Italy be able to defend itself and that his country must meet the target of 2% of GDP for defense.
According to current estimates, however, Italy will not achieve this target in the current year 2025, which means that raising defense spending to five percent of GDP will be an impossible task for the country.
In this regard, the correspondent of the German public television ARD in Rome, Anna Giordano, recalls that in the Italian opposition and in society in general there are very strong pacifist tendencies and weak support for increasing military spending. Italians fear that if defense spending increases further, Italy, which is already heavily indebted, will have even less money for education, health care and infrastructure.
France faces a Herculean task
France is in principle ready to invest more in defense. Paris has set itself a medium-term goal of investing 3.5% of its gross domestic product in defense, and is also ready to invest additional funds, for example in cybersecurity, and thus indirectly increase its defense spending. Therefore, France is generally in line with the proposal of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. According to Alliance data, France is currently investing just over 2 percent of GDP in defense, ARD recalls.
The defense budget for this year amounts to 50 billion euros. According to calculations by the private think tank IFRAP and the state-owned think tank France Stratégie, if France wants to reach the 3.5% target by 2030, its military budget will need to be at least double. The current military planning law, which France uses to set its medium-term defense spending, foresees spending of 67 billion euros in 2030. This means that to spend 3.5% of GDP on defense alone, France will have to spend much more than its medium-term military financial planning. And that will be a Herculean task given the state of the country's budget.
According to a survey conducted by the IPSOS sociological institute in early March, almost 70% of French people support increasing defense spending. At the same time, most of the respondents are against buying more weapons from American manufacturers, ARD correspondent Caroline Dilla reports from Paris.
Will there be an exception for Spain?
Spain is the country among the Alliance partners that most strongly opposed the idea of at least 5 percent defense spending by 2035. The country's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the new target as "unreasonable" and "counterproductive" and in a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, he argued why Spain should not invest more than 2.1% of its gross domestic product in purely military spending in order to be able to defend the Alliance in the event of a crisis or war.
Spain is now at the bottom of the list of NATO partners with defense spending of only 1.3% of GDP. This is not only due to the fact that the country is governed by a left-wing coalition, and the smaller coalition partner "Sumar" opposes more money for the army - support for more defense spending is also low among the population. In the monthly barometer of the sociological institute CIS on public attitudes, concerns about security or the threat of war take the last places on the list of fears of Spaniards, ARD correspondent Julia Maher reports from Madrid.
For example: the Baltic states
The Baltic states have always been understanding when it comes to defense budgets. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia see NATO as a guarantee of their security, and the defense alliance maintains bases on their territory. All three countries invest significantly more in defense than many other members of the pact, with Estonia aiming to exceed the five percent mark in the near future. Latvia spends about four percent of its gross domestic product, while Lithuania wants to spend between five and six percent next year. Lithuanian President Nauseda is convinced that his country must arm itself to avoid becoming the next victim of Russian aggression.
Where is Bulgaria?
Bulgaria will increase its defense spending to 3.5% of its gross domestic product by 2032. This was announced by Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov, quoted by BTA. "To ensure the success of our defense investment projects, our defense spending reached the target of 2% of GDP in 2024. This is no longer sufficient and we have decided to increase our defense spending to at least 2.5-3%, and by 2032 to reach 3.5% of GDP as a minimum level to succeed in our modernization efforts," said Zapryanov.
Let us recall that in early March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented a plan for the rearmament of the EU. It exempts member states from budgetary expenditure requirements when investing in defense. In addition, countries will be free to redirect funds from the EU's cohesion funds to use them for defense purposes.