Latvia aims to spend 5% of GDP on defense by 2028, says president

Latvia plans to raise its defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2028, its president, Edgars Rinkevics, said on Tuesday amid fears of aggression by Russia, the country’s giant eastern neighbor, Report informs via TVP World.

Speaking in Warsaw following talks with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, Rinkevics said he hoped NATO nations would agree a new defense expenditure guideline of 3.5% – up from the current 2% – but that some countries would need to spend more.

“This is the level we need to talk about,” he was quoted by Poland’s state news agency PAP as saying, adding: “Those countries directly threatened have to think about higher defense spending.”

Riga’s 2025 defense budget stands at 3.45% of GDP, according to the Latvian Ministry of Defense.

Rinkevics described Poland as an ally and strategic partner of his country.

Regional security was high on the agenda of the two presidents’ talks in Warsaw, with the focus on NATO’s eastern flank as well as international tensions and the prospects for peace in Ukraine.

Rinkevics is on a two-day visit to Poland. On Monday, the third anniversary of the war’s outbreak, he attended the ‘Support Ukraine’ summit in Kyiv.

Both presidents expressed hope for a durable peace in Ukraine.