NATO summit in The Hague. Poland is to agree to 5% of GDP on defence

Key changes

On Tuesday, the NATO summit in The Hague begins. According to media reports, the leaders of the Alliance associate states are expected to discuss and most likely besides approve a plan to rise defence spending to 5% of GDP.

The fresh budget limit would cover not only classical military spending but besides wider safety activities, including investments in cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection and assistance to partner countries.

Sikorski wants Trump to be more firm

Radosław Sikorski pointed out that 1 of the key elements of the final declaration of the NATO summit would be the provisions recognising Russia as the main threat and the Alliance's declaration to take appropriate action and supply the essential resources to strengthen defence. He besides pointed out that the adoption of the nonsubjective of expanding safety spending to 5% of GDP should be considered a success of the US President, Donald Trump.

He besides pointed out that Trump was credited with ending the conflict in the mediate East, and the current geopolitical situation, including strengthening the relation between Iran and Russia, as illustrated by the visit of the chief of Iranian diplomacy to Moscow and declarations of support from the Kremlin for the government there, could prompt the US president to adopt a stronger attitude towards Russian aggression in Europe.

Sikorski stressed that, in the current crisis, democracies cannot act as during peace and should velocity up investment in defence, among another things by simplifying procedures for the construction of defence facilities. He pointed out that Ukraine gave Europe time, but Russia despite Putin's tactical successes is incapable to win the war. At the NATO summit in The Hague, leaders of the states will discuss, among another things, raising defence spending to 5% of GDP. Poland will be represented, among others, by president Duda and Minister Sikorski.

Poland will agree to 5 percent

Before leaving for the Hague, the head of MON Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that Poland would support the proposal to increase defence spending of NATO states to 5% of GDP. The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that procrastinating the decision on this issue would endanger the safety of the Alliance. The fresh threshold would cover 3.5% of GDP for the modernisation of the army and 1.5% for perimilitary activities specified as infrastructure or cybersecurity.

Kosiniak-Kamysz pointed out that Poland already spends on defence measures close to this level, which is the biggest contribution to NATO, half of which goes to transformation and modernisation of the armed forces. He besides stressed Poland's determination and its liable attitude, pointing out that the country is at the forefront of the Alliance in terms of commitment. Preparations for the summit lasted many months and included cooperation between defence, abroad affairs and the National safety Committee.

Controversy around Article 5.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated on Wednesday morning before the beginning of the Second Day of the Hague Summit that the United States is full active in the Alliance and in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

On the another hand, U.S. president Donald Trump, on his way to the summit, did not give a clear answer to the question concerning the continuation of the work under Article 5, pointing to various interpretations of this provision. He announced that erstwhile he arrived in The Hague he would present his definition. He besides stressed that he felt committed to being a friend to allies and declared support, pointing out that he had developed close relations with many leaders of the associate States.

However, it should be noted that although all NATO countries have officially declared support for the 5% of GDP mark for defence, Spain has announced that it will only allocate 2.1%, which has caused controversy. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez claims that he agreed to this decision with the Secretary-General of NATO.

Meanwhile, Mark Rutte announced that Ukraine would be the key subject of the summit, and Trump, despite his ambiguous attitude towards Article 5, was publically praised by Rutte for his actions in Iran and his contribution to the force to increase defence spending in Europe.