In short

• Lithuania plans to allocate a record 5.38 percent of GDP to defense in 2026, the highest among NATO countries.
• Most of these funds will be directed to armaments, the rest to infrastructure, such as roads needed for military purposes.
• The Lithuanian opposition has expressed concerns about the transparency of spending, arguing that some of the funds may be incorrectly classified as military spending.

Poland recently ranked highest in this ranking. In 2025, we will allocate 4.7% of GDP to military spending, and in the coming year, 4.8%.

Let us recall that 5% of GDP is the new NATO target by 2035. The majority of these funds will be allocated to armaments (3.5%), and the remaining funds will be allocated to supporting infrastructure (1.5%).

Lithuania. Prime Minister's Important Announcement: Over 5% of GDP for Defense

Finance Minister  Kristupas Vaitiekūnas announced after the government meeting that next year EUR 4.8 billion (slightly over PLN 20 billion) from the Lithuanian budget will be allocated to defense.

For comparison, Poland will spend approximately 200 billion zloty, or 10 times more. However, Lithuania is a significantly smaller country.

- We shouldn't look at defense solely through the prism of weapons purchases. There are many other issues that are crucial in wartime," Inga Ruginienė said during a media briefing. Therefore, some of the funds will be allocated to modernizing and laying new roads leading, among other things, to military training grounds.

- It's natural that when you buy a tank, you have to be able to move it during wartime - the head of government noted.

Opposition politicians have weighed in on the matter. Laurynas Kasčiūnas, leader of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, warned against possible"fraud" in the way the ruling party calculates defense spending.

"We'll see everything once we learn the detailed budget for the national defense system. Then we'll be able to say whether fraud is taking place or not," he explained.