(Bloomberg) -- Estonia plans to raise defense spending to 4% of gross domestic product, one of the highest levels in NATO, over the next two years to buy ammunition and bolster national security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Baltic nation announced its new goal following Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur’s meeting with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Washington on Tuesday. “All the allies should increase their defense spending to 2.5-3% of GDP,” Pevkur said in a post on the X social media network.
The push comes amid growing worries in some parts of the alliance about a potential return of Donald Trump as US president following the November elections.
The Republican nominee has long complained that many members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization spend less than their 2% target on defense. Now, his advisers are considering demanding that the commitment be raised to 3% of economic output.
The Baltic states and Poland have led the way in increasing defence spending since Moscow ’s invasion of Ukraine as they share borders with Russia or its ally Belarus.
NATO estimates that Estonia will this year be the alliance’s second-largest defense spender at 3.4% of GDP, following Poland at 4% and ahead of the US. To get there, the government in Tallinn unveiled a new defense tax last week, partly to finance a €1.6 billion ($1.7b) shortage in ammunition stockpiles.
Pevkur also called for a bigger US footprint in Estonia and an increase in long-range weapons capabilities. The Baltic country of 1.3 million hosts US HIMARS rocket systems and infantry units.
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