Poland wants EU nations to increase defence spending

WARSAW: Poland Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told AFP on Thursday (Feb 19) that European allies – especially Italy, France and Spain – needed to invest more in their common security. 

“I would like Spain to heed this call, I would like Italy and France to hear it even more strongly, this call to increase defence spending, as Poland, Germany and the Scandinavian countries have done,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said in an interview. 

“The more Europe invests, the more seriously and respectfully America will treat us in these areas,” he added. 

The NATO and EU member, which borders Russia and its close ally Belarus, has heavily ramped up its defence spending since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 

It is NATO’s largest spender in percentage terms, allocating 4.8 per cent of its GDP to defence in its 2026 budget. At a summit last year, NATO members agreed to increase defence spending from two per cent to five per cent by 2035. 

France spent 2.05 per cent of its GDP on defence in 2025 – just over NATO’s old target – while Italy spent 2.01 per cent, and Spain 2 per cent. 

“It is still far too little; we need to do more, faster, and more forcefully,” the Polish minister stressed in the interview with AFP, which was conducted together with the German agency DPA and the Polish agency PAP.

Nevertheless, Kosiniak-Kamysz emphasised the close cooperation he and the Polish government shared with its European allies.