At Bucharest Nine summit, Nausėda highlights importance of 3% GDP funding for defence

On Tuesday, President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda is attending the Bucharest Nine summit in Riga, Latvia, where he stressed the importance of 3% of GDP defence spending amid an unstable geopolitical situation.

Nausėda said that 2% of GDP defence funding as the minimum threshold was no longer enough. According to the head of state, 3% should be the target for sustainable funding of defence and security.

Furthermore, speaking about the upcoming NATO summit in Washington, DC, the head of state called to adopt decisions that would enhance the security and defence of the Euro-Atlantic area.

The president said that the success of the NATO summit would be measured by progress made on the issue of Ukraine. He emphasised that Ukraine’s victory is the only way to resolve the destabilised international situation and prevent war from spreading in Europe in the future.