Kosiniak-Kamysz admitted that the decision on the ceiling to which the Alliance states should rise arms spending would most likely be made only at the June NATO summit in The Hague. U.S. president Donald Trump wants NATO associate States to spend 5% of their GDP on defence. On the another hand, Secretary General Mark Rutte admits that an increase in expenditure is simply a necessity, but alternatively speaks of a 3-3.5 percent ceiling.
The head of the Polish MON said in Brussels that Poland, which will allocate 4.7% of GDP in 2025, is simply a model for another countries — as stressed by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Wednesday. He added, however, that as a minister, he ‘stands hard on the ground’ and realizes that a fast increase in expenditure may not be possible for many countries. — It is impossible to rise the bar from 2% of GDP to 5% of GDP overnight, since any countries were incapable to jump from 1.5% to 2% in a decade. “The minister noted.
Minister Kosiniak-Kamish: a clear action plan must be adopted
The politician announced that at his gathering in The Hague, he intends to propose to allied countries a plan of respective years to increase defence spending. “A clear action plan must be adopted. A extremist increase in defence spending each year, in order to scope 5% of GDP, he said. He added that NATO countries must agree unanimously to the general ceiling, but before that happens, countries should decide individually to increase their own spending.
The politician stressed that Poland has "full law and even duty" to say that, without increased expenditure, Europe's defence and deterrence strategical objectives will not be met. However, he acknowledged that he sees a "breakthrough" in the approach of NATO defence ministers who are starting to declare spending more money on reinforcements.
Kosiniak-Kamish added that the second pressing issue is the request to increase investment in the arms manufacture in Europe. The politician estimated that the White Paper, or a paper setting out the future defence strategy of the EU, which will shortly be published, had to deal with real expenditure. "€500 billion must be invested in the improvement of the arms manufacture as shortly as possible. There is simply a common consensus in NATO on this,” said the politician.
