Polish president asks NATO leaders to increase military spending
'There is no strong Europe without the USA and NATO, just as there is no strong NATO without a committed Europe,' Andrzej Duda wrote in a letter sent to all heads of government and countries of NATO members on Wednesday.
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Polish President Andrzej Duda issued a special letter on Wednesday, asking all leaders of NATO member states to increase defence spending from 2% to at least 3% of GDP.
In the letter, seen by Euronews, the Polish president marked the country's 26th year as a full-fledged member of the alliance by calling on the leaders of all 31 other member states to expand their armies and support NATO at the upcoming summit in the Netherlands.
'During my last visit to NATO HQ, I submitted an official request to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, that the issue of increasing defence spending to a minimum of 3% of GDP by all NATO members be raised at the upcoming summit in the Hague," Duda said.
"We no longer have time for discussions. We need decisions. We must act now," he emphasised.
The Polish president also recalled that at the last NATO summit in Washington, he was the first to talk about increased defence spending as a top priority.
Recently, Duda proposed to include in the Polish Constitution a provision guaranteeing that the eastern European country will permanently allocate a minimum of 4% of its GDP for defence and security.
'From the beginning of my presidency, I wanted Poland to be perceived not just as a recipient but also a provider of security," the Polish president said, recalling that in recent years, Poland has set its sights on further developing its armed forces, increasing its numbers and modernising it.
Duda, who is one of the few European politicians who maintains a good relationship with President Trump and his administration, made it clear that in his view, the US is still a pillar of NATO.
'The US was and continues to be the natural leader of the alliance," Duda wrote, adding that the strength of NATO "lies in our unity, our resolve and our readiness to act."
At the end of April, Duda, whose second term ends mid-2025, will hold a special anniversary Three Seas Summit in Warsaw, to which he also plans to invite the US president.
Poland became a member of NATO 26 years ago to this day, together with the Czech Republic and Hungary — marking a historic expansion for the alliance to include countries that have previously been part of the Warsaw Pact.
Since then, Poland has grown into one of the alliance's leaders in Europe and a pillar of NATO's eastern flank.
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