Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz told the paper that Trump “should not be criticized for setting a really ambitious goal, because otherwise some countries will continue to debate whether there is a real need to increase defense spending.” He himself thinks that this would take ten years.
According to him, Poland “could be a transatlantic link” in solving this challenge raised by Donald Trump.
Trump wants NATO countries to spend five percent of their GDP on defense, not two
America
Of all NATO member countries, Poland is the closest to meeting the requirement. It spends 4.7 percent of GDP annually on defense, which is the most in NATO. According to the minister, he has no other option because Russia is close: “We have bought a lot (weapons), but our geographical position on the map makes investments to buy (military) equipment necessary.”
The EU should give 100 billion euros
Warsaw, which now presides over the EU, wants to convince the other member countries that the EU should give 100 billion euros from the common budget for defense. Talks on the form of the next seven-year budget, which will be valid until 2028, will begin this year. Last year, the European Commission proposed that 1.5 billion euros should go to support the arms industry, which Kosiniak-Kamysz considers insufficient – and on Monday he wants to present a Polish proposal at a meeting with representatives of Germany, Italy, France and Britain.
For defense, he would like to transfer unused money from the common fund for the recovery of the economy after covid, which contained 800 billion euros. This fund will end next year.
However, the Polish minister goes further, suggesting indebtedness: “If we could afford to go into debt for recovery after covid, we must find money to protect ourselves from war. I know that not everyone shares this view, but Poland sees it differently. We have to remember that there are some big European countries whose views have not always been right, and as far as Russia is concerned, they have been wrong.”
Trump’s demand of five percent
Trump came up with a requirement to spend five percent of GDP on defense even before taking office. Currently, only 23 countries out of 32 spend the required two percent of GDP on defense. The Czech Republic is among them. This corresponds to a gradual increase to three percent. Even the Alliance expects to spend on defense in the amount of at least three percent of GDP.
Government to Trump: An increase in defense spending is yes, but it will not be five percent of GDP
Homemade

However, Spain only spends 1.29 percent of GDP on defense and promises to spend two percent on defense in 2029.
Fast and enough. NATO countries are secretly negotiating to increase member states’ defense spending
Europe
