Poland Urges NATO to Speed Up Defense Spending

Poland has called on NATO member states to significantly accelerate increases in defense spending. Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Wednesday that the alliance should reach its target of 5% of GDP for defense by 2030, five years earlier than originally planned.

Warsaw has been among the strongest advocates of strengthening Europe’s defense capabilities. Poland, which borders both Russia and Ukraine, sees the growing security threat from Moscow as urgent.

Poland is currently NATO’s largest military spender relative to the size of its economy. It plans to allocate 4.8% of GDP to defense next year.

Speaking at the Defence24 Days conference in Warsaw, Kosiniak-Kamysz said Europe had sufficient economic potential, but needed to set clear priorities. The alliance could not afford to wait until 2035, he said, because it might then be too late to rearm.

NATO leaders agreed at the June 2025 summit that member states would invest 5% of GDP in defense and security projects by 2035. Part of the commitment includes investment in cyber security and the upgrading of roads and ports for military equipment.

(reuters, bak)