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Greek PM says all NATO members should commit to defence spending target
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 25, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 25, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Greek PM Mitsotakis urges NATO members to meet agreed defence spending targets, emphasizing fair burden-sharing among all 32 members.
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday that all 32 members of the NATO alliance should do their part in defence spending and commit to the agreed target so that there would be no sense of "free-riding".
NATO members agreed in principle on Sunday to boost their defence spending target to 5% of gross domestic product, as demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump, but Spain said it could meet its commitments without spending so much.
"The point of an alliance is to make sure that there is a fair burden-sharing and that there is no sense that certain countries are sort of free-riding on the defence commitment of other countries," Mitsotakis said as a NATO summit began in The Hague.
"So I think it is important to understand that these targets...should be binding and they should be binding for all 32 members of the alliance."
Greece is now spending about 3% of its gross domestic product on defence - nearly double the average in the EU.
It has asked the European Commission to exempt its 2026 defence spending from the EU's budget rules as part of the so-called fiscal escape clause as it aims to spend 25 billion euros ($29 billion) by 2036 under a multi-year defence plan to modernise its armed forces and as it tries to keep pace with its eastern neighbour and historical rival Turkey.
Mitsotakis says this will help Greece reach the 5% target by 2035.
($1 = 0.8613 euros)
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Alison Williams and Kevin Liffey)
He emphasized that all NATO members should commit to the agreed defence spending target to ensure fair burden-sharing.
Greece is currently spending about 3% of its gross domestic product on defence, which is nearly double the EU average.
NATO members agreed in principle to boost their defence spending target to 5% of gross domestic product.
Greece requested an exemption for its 2026 defence spending from the EU's budget rules under the fiscal escape clause.
Greece aims to reach the 5% defence spending target by 2035, planning to spend 25 billion euros by then.
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