Estonia has approved a four-year €2.8 billion additional defence funding bill in a bid to meet NATO capability targets. The new spending will push the Baltic country to an average defence spending of 5.4% of GDP through to 2029, up from previous levels of around 3.4%.
“We made a historic decision from the point of view of Estonian national defence. We have never allocated so much additional money to national defence in one year in Estonia,” said Hanno Pevkur, Estonian Defence Minister.
“Already next year, defence spending will rise to about 5.4% of GDP, or over 2% in one year, and it will stay there for quite a long time,” noted Pevkur.
“The four-year average is also 5.4%, and this will give us the opportunity to meet the military capability goals that we have agreed on in NATO,” he added.
The government’s decision to raise defence spending will result in a substantial increase in the number of military capabilities, equipment and stockpiles as well as more ammunition for the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF).
More medium-range air defence, additional engineers, long-range reconnaissance battalions, long-range strike capabilities, modern communications systems, increased naval capabilities, additional personal, among others, are all to be included in the new bill.
EDF chief, General Andrus Merilo said that the need to strengthen Estonia’s defence stems from a deteriorating security environment caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He also cited Russia building up its operational capabilities as another threat to Estonia.
According to Merilo, Estonia must not only catch up to the enemy’s capability development but even outpace it. The additional funding approved by the government decision will be used for precisely that purpose.
“Our security policy situation simply puts us in this position, and in order to be ready for our tasks, we must not only keep up with the military development of our adversary, but if possible, at least take a step forward together with our allies in the coming years,” said Merilo.
Estonia’s new plans come just weeks before the upcoming NATO summit, set to take place in The Hague on 24-25 June. They also come after US President Donald Trump threatened to shake up the alliance if his demands of a revised 5% figure are not met.
Trump had previously called out NATO members for “piggy-backing” on Washington for their security. The 47th US president had claimed that European allies were not investing into their defence, leaving their defence to NATO, and more broadly the US.
He also called the 2% targets agreed upon by members under former Secretary General of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, ‘pathetic’, threatening to withdraw the US from NATO if members do not achieve defence spending of at least 5% of GDP.