NATO. Jabłoński: “Germany still does not pay 2 percent of GDP for defense.” We checked

Former deputy minister of foreign affairs, currently PiS MP Paweł Jabłoński, was a guest on RMF FM radio on November 14. He was asked, among other things: o international responses to Donald Trump's victory in the United States presidential elections. Jabłoński replied that the first changes caused by this choice of the Americans were already visible in the world, and added: “Trump has one advantage from our point of view: that he will put a lot of pressure on our partners in the European Union and NATO to do much more in security issues. He did it in his first term, he spoke in a very open way, and sometimes some people said: too harsh, it breaks the canons of diplomacy. Jabłoński further stated:

MP Jabłoński emphasized: “Poland pays even more, we had planned almost five percent, but it ended up being four, I think, and a half.” Then he expressed hope that “together with Donald Trump, we will pressure our allies who are not meeting these obligations to spend more” because “Poland has done a lot, and Germany, France and others still not enough.”

However, as we have checked, MP Jabłoński's information is out of date.

During his first presidential term, Donald Trump often criticized some European Union countries for not meeting the NATO guideline of allocating at least 2 percent. GDP for defense. A lot was said about this, for example at the NATO summit in Brussels in July 2018, where Trump held a joint conference with the then Secretary General of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg. he remindedthat Germany spends just over 1 percent on defense. GDP (then it was 1.25 percent of GDP), while the United States “in real numbers spends 4.2 percent of a much larger GDP.”

“It's wrong. We protect Germany, we protect France, we protect everyone and we are the ones paying the big money. This has been going on for decades,” Trump scolded. He expected spending to increase as quickly as possible.

In this year's election campaign, this topic returned, among others. after Trump's loud words about “encouraging Russia” to “do whatever they like” with NATO countries that spend too little on defense. In February, Trump met with voters in South Carolina he reportedthat the “president of a large country” asked him whether the United States would defend the country against aggression from Russia if it “did not pay” enough money for defense. – I replied: no, I wouldn't defend you. And I would even encourage them (Russians – ed.) to do whatever they like. You have to pay, you have to pay your bills, he stressed. After these words once again the discussion was resumed to allocate at least two percent of GDP to defense, especially if Donald Trump returns to power.

READ ON KONKRET24: Trump: If you don't pay, we won't protect. Where does the NATO budget come from?

MP Paweł Jabłoński's claim that Germany still does not allocate 2%. However, the fact that GDP for defense does not meet this requirement “to this day” is untrue. IN the latest development published by NATO in June this year stated that according to estimates Germany will spend 2.12% on armaments in 2024. GDP.

This will be the first year when Germany meets the NATO guidelines and exceeds the 2% threshold. GDP. In 2023, they spent 1.64% on defense. GDP. This shows how much our western neighbor's approach to armament has changed after the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022 (at that time, Germany's defense spending amounted to 1.51% of GDP).

It is worth adding that among NATO countries, Poland is the leader in military spending – in 2024, according to estimates, we will allocate 4.12% for this purpose. GDP. In second place is Estonia (3.43%), and in third place is the United States (3.38%).

Paweł Jabłoński mentioned that France also spends little on defense, but this country – like Germany – will also exceed the 2% threshold in 2024 for the first time. GDP, allocating 2.06% to armaments. GDP.

According to NATO estimates, this year 23 of 31 member countries (excluding Iceland, which has no armed forces) will spend at least 2 percent on armaments. GDP.