Trump’s 5% NATO spends on target “very, very difficult” target: Greek Prime Minister

Greek Prime Minister told CNBC that NATO members are going to deliver U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense spending requirements will be a challenge.

White House leaders often call on NATO countries to increase their security contribution to 5% of their GDP – the issue of Greece’s targeted Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“Frankly, I think 5% is very, very difficult,” he said in an interview with CNBC’s Silvia Amaro.Early European version” Friday.

“If we’re talking about hard defense spending, I think the 3.5% ceiling might be … acceptable,” Misatakis said.

Nevertheless, he noted that if wider spending, such as critical infrastructure, belongs to the expenditure umbrella, a 5% trademark could be a long-term goal.

“So it really depends on how we do accounting,” he noted.

NATO Chief Mark Rutte reportedly suggestion NATO members should increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP, while raising broader security-related issues of 1.5%.

Historically, many NATO countries have been working to achieve the league’s current low 2% target, thus winning Trump’s anger.

NATO estimate It is recommended that the United States spend about 3.4% of its GDP on defense in 2024, with only two allies – Poland and Estonia – allocating its greater economic power to security affairs during this period.

Poland has also pledged to increase its defense spending to as high as 5% in the coming years, while other countries are more cautious, warning that such spending may be difficult to manage.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also last week Indicated The country is supporting Trump’s goals. He said the result of Rutt’s suggestion was “It’s indeed 5% of President Trump’s request, and he thinks it’s necessary and we focus on him in that regard.”

The decision on the new defense spending target can be made at the next NATO summit in late June.

Mitsubishi, Greece’s speech, said Trump was the right to ask NATO allies to spend more defense.

“Donald Trump said in 2017 that you didn’t make the share you deserve because we didn’t,” he said. “We now know that without a free lunch, we can’t ride freely.”

Greece itself spent nearly 3.1% of its GDP on defense last year, NATO estimate. Athens has been surpassing its 2% target for years and began further raising defense costs in 2020 amid long-term tensions with neighbor Turkey on issues such as maritime borders.

“We spent over 3% for very specific reasons, and we also advocated changes to European rules to encourage us to be able to spend more,” Mitsotakis said.

For years, EU fiscal rules have limited the extent of possible debt and budget deficits that Member States have caused. Recently, the European Commission has made move Aim to relax financial restrictions as a broader security package.

Talk to CNBC, Mitsotakis – Said before The European Commission’s plan may be more ambitious – noting that it is also important to continue discussing potential facilities supporting defense spending.