Estonian government approves additional funding to raise defence spending to 5.4% of GDP
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fashion Network
3 hours ago
- Fashion Network
China says it is working with France on trade differnces, no sign yet of a cognac deal
China and France have agreed to resolve their trade disputes through dialogue, China's foreign ministry said on Friday, though there was no indication that agreement had been reached in talks on lifting Chinese levies on European brandy. Talks to resolve the cognac dispute accelerated this week with China's commerce minister Wang Wentao meeting his French counterpart in Paris on the sidelines of an OECD conference, and technical talks on the matter taking place in Beijing. The latest round of negotiations have raised hopes of a settlement, two industry sources with knowledge of the discussions said. "The two sides have reached consensus on resolving economic and trade issues through dialogue and consultation", the Chinese foreign ministry said after a call between the Chinese and French foreign ministers. Chinese anti-dumping measures that applied duties of up to 39% on imports of European brandy - with French cognac bearing the brunt - have strained relations between Paris and Beijing. The brandy duties were enforced days after the European Union took action against Chinese-made electric vehicle imports to shield its local industry, prompting France's President Emmanuel Macron to accuse Beijing of "pure retaliation". The Chinese duties have dented sales of brands including LVMH 's Hennessy, Pernod Ricard 's Martell and Remy Cointreau. Beijing was initially meant to make a final decision on the duties by January, but extended the deadline to April and then again to July 5. China is seeking to strengthen trade ties with the 27-member bloc as relations with the United States have soured in the escalating trade war. "France will not compromise on ... the protection of its industries, such as cognac," French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said after talks with Wang on Wednesday. Chinese officials, meanwhile, signalled to industry officials during three rounds of technical meetings in Beijing this week they wanted to settle the matter, one of the sources said, but added some sticking points remained. With annual imports of around $1.7 billion last year, China is the French brandy industry's most important measured by value and the second-largest by volume after the United States.
Local France
13 hours ago
- Local France
France's Macron to visit Greenland
Macron's office said he had been invited to visit on June 15 by the territory's prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish leader Mette Frederiksen. The three will hold talks focused on North Atlantic and Arctic security, climate change, the energy transition and the supply of critical minerals, the French presidency said. The visit will contribute to fostering "European sovereignty" and was aiming at "strengthening cooperation" with Greenland, it added. READ ALSO: Norway 'in solidarity' with Greenland and Denmark after US threats Frederiksen called the visit "a concrete testimony of European unity" in a statement. "It has been uplifting to see the strong international support for Greenland and the Kingdom in the difficult foreign policy situation in recent months," she said. Danish and Greenlandic leaders have insisted that the autonomous territory, where a majority are in favour of independence in the long term, must decide its own future, and have repeatedly said Washington "will never get Greenland". Macron will travel on to Canada after the Greenland visit to participate in a G7 summit.
Euronews
13 hours ago
- Euronews
French companies to manufacture drones in Ukraine
In the campaign of attrition and position that the war in Ukraine has become, FPV drones have quickly become ubiquitous and vitally essential. Russia, initially relying mainly on Iranian Shaheds, soon put all the power of its war economy into manufacturing them itself. Ukraine, although not able to rely on the same production capacity, is not to be outdone and can rely on its inventiveness, both in the construction and development of its own models and the effectiveness of their use - as demonstrated by the recent 'Spider's Web' operation- but also in the 're-use' of swarms launched by its adversaries. Now Kyiv can count on some major support in this war at a distance: French automotive and defence companies are going to produce drones on Ukrainian soil. Announcing the initiative on LCI, French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu spoke of a "win-win" partnership with Ukraine. "We're going to embark on a completely unprecedented partnership where a major company producing French cars - I'm not giving the name because it's up to it to announce it - is going to join forces with a French defence SME to arm production lines in Ukraine to be able to produce drones", the minister announced. These drones, the type of which he did not specify, will be intended for the Ukrainians, " but we are also going to make them available to our own French armies so that we can have permanent tactical and operational training that reflects the reality " of the conflict. As far as expertise and manpower are concerned, production will rest on the Ukrainians' shoulders: they "are better than we are at devising drones and, above all, developing the doctrine that goes with them", Lecornu admitted. " There's also no need to ask French citizens" to go and work on the production line in Ukraine. The announcement follows the discussions that took place on 5 June in Brussels between the Ukrainian and French defence ministers on the joint production of weapons for Ukrainian defence needs. "We are ready to offer this opportunity to the best manufacturers. Ukraine has combat experience and France has a solid industrial base. This is a strategic and mutually beneficial partnership", Ukrainian Miniser of Defence Rustem Umarierov emphasised, thanking Lecornu for his support. At the 28th Ramstein meeting at NATO headquarters, Ukraine and its partners also decided to set up an armaments production mechanism. Several European partners have recently invested in drone production in Ukraine Finland has set up a drone manufacturing plant in cooperation with Ukrainian partners to produce drones for Ukraine and the EU, with mass production scheduled to begin in 2025. The Netherlands has announced a €700m ($798m) investment to advance drone technology and support Ukraine's defence industry. The UK is also investing hundreds of millions of dollars to increase drone production for Ukraine in 2025. Norway has redirected its funds to support Ukrainian drone production. According to Jean-Paul Perruche, Lieutenant General and former Director General of the European Union Military Staff, quoted by LCI, France was until then "insufficiently prepared" for this upheaval in warfare practices: "I worked in the research department of the army staff, and we were already talking about drones at the end of the 1980s. But the context at the time was far from high-intensity. I think we fell behind on drones at a time when countries like the United States and others like China were forging ahead. While the French army has a few thousand drones (3,000 for the army), Ukraine intends to use more than 4.5 million drones by 2025, which are responsible for 70% of the destruction of enemy equipment on the front line. Both Poland and Portugal marked the beginning of pride month with parades held on Saturday afternoon. The month of June is celebrated as pride month across the world, with festivals, demonstrations, parades, and other events bringing light to LGBTQ+ issues. In Poland, Pride marches were held in the cities of Gdańsk and Wrocław, just one week after the election of conservative-nationalist Karol Nawrocki, who was endorsed by the Law and Justice party. This was the 17th Pride Parade in Wrocław, and the 10th to take place in Gdańsk. In Wrocław, demonstrators set of from Freedom Square at 14:00, while the "Tri-City Equality March" encompassing the coastal cities of Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Sopot took off at 16:00. Both marches aimed to showcase the cities as inclusive towards all of their residents. Several political leaders confirmed their participation in the marches, including Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, Minister of Equality Katarzyna Kotula, Mayor of Gdańsk Agnieszka Dulkiewicz and Mayor of Sopot Magdalena Czarzyńska-Jachim. City councilor and president of the Tolerado Association for LGBTQ+ rights, Marta Magott said in an interview with the official website of Gdańsk that the annual march is a "reminder of freedom, solidarity, and equality". The event was significant in Poland, which still ranks as the second-worst country in the EU for LGBTQ+ people, after Romania, according to the advocacy group ILGA-Europe, which publishes an annual "Rainbow Map" ranking the countries based on political and social factors. Poland had occupied the top spot in the rankings for six years, and made marginal progress since the election of the coalition government in 2023, according to the organization. Portugal, on the other hand, is in 11th place. A Pride March will also take place on June 14 in Warsaw. At the 26th LGBTQI+ Pride March in Lisbon on Saturday, thousands of people lined the avenues of the capital's downtown to defend human rights, equality and non-discrimination. The march left Praça do Marquês de Pombal at 16:30 with one of this year's mottoes being "Resist and not just Exist", according to a joint manifesto published by one of the organising movements on social media. At a time when the far-right is closer to political power and institutions in Portugal and Europe, hate speech and discrimination against LGBTQ+ minorities are resurfacing in national society, after more than 50 years of achievements in Portugal for equality and non-discrimination rights. "The political forces that deny our rights are gaining institutional space, marching is reaffirming that we don't back down, that we exist, that we resist," says the Associação ILGA Portugal - Intervenção Lésbica, Gay, Bissexual, Trans e Intersexo (ILGA) on its Facebook account. "Hate speech is trying to become normalised," adds ILGA, and "we cannot ignore the fact that freedom and democracy are under attack," warns. The group recalled that during the 48 years of dictatorship, the fascist regime denied the existence of homosexuals and lesbians, who were persecuted. Portugal lived under a dictatorship for almost 48 years. Founded in 1995, ILGA Portugal is the oldest association defending LGBTQ+ people and their families against discrimination. It is part of ILGA World and the Platform for Fundamental Rights of the European Union Agency. "We are marching for the right to live with dignity, for all the people who came before us, for those who are here and for those who are yet to come." "This is a right that has been won over the years in Portugal, and today it is under threat," said Mariana Mortágua, coordinator of the Left Bloc party, participating in the parade. 'Nowadays, it's difficult to demonstrate for human rights without being threatened by extreme right-wing forces and without the government doing something about it', Mortágua added in statements to Portuguese national television, RTP. "We have to keep fighting for rights," said Hélder Bértolo of the March's organising committee, "it's important to be here, to raise our voices," he added regarding the threat of acquired rights being broken in the face of the rise of the radical right. Bértolo said these rights "have faded", especially in countries like Hungary. "Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and other European countries are also moving in this direction", the spokesperson told reporters. The 2025 edition also saw the participation of the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), which joined the 18 associations and groups with political intervention in defence of the LGBTQ+ community.
