Polish President Andrzej Duda has urged NATO allies to increase their defence spending to address Russia’s wartime economy. 

During the opening session of the Bucharest Nine (B9) summit in Riga, the Latvian capital, Duda stated that the Kremlin is prepared to utilise all available forces to achieve its imperialistic ambitions, and that its economy is currently functioning in wartime mode.

He suggested that Western nations should also consider boosting their defence expenditure to counter this Russian threat. “War reminds us that Russia is ready to use all available forces and means, including military ones, to achieve its almost imperial goals […] We should also increase our defence spending. This is a natural step to enhance our own defence capabilities” – Duda noted. 

The Polish head of state has consistently advocated for raising the threshold for defence spending among NATO countries to at least 3% of GDP. During his speech, Duda rejoiced about the presence of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and welcomed the fact that Sweden and Finland recently joined the alliance.

The president stressed that the Bucharest Nine (B9) is regarded as the voice of NATO’s eastern flank, and this voice must be heard before the upcoming Alliance summit in Washington.

The Bucharest Nine (B9) group, composed of former Warsaw Pact countries, was formed in 2015 and holds regular meetings of the leaders, foreign and defence ministers of its members: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.

Image: X @prezydentpl, Marek Borawski

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen