Politicians want to spend a lot more on defense than the 2% of GDP needed by NATO

Other coalition politicians are similar.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs insisted that in five years, the funding allocated to protection be raised to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP). Similarly, Lithuania and Poland should be considered and the money should be reserved not only for military security but also for cybersecurity.

If the Latvian economy maintained its current growth rate for five years, the additional funding allocated would be several hundred million

At the same time, some decisions may have to be made this year. The share of defense resources is based on GDP forecasts for the year. This means that in case of rapid economic growth this year, Latvia might not reach the required 2% of NATO's GDP

The President also agreed on the need to raise funds for the defense in the years to come. They are necessary, but they must be taken into account in order to make investments effective and targeted. "If we are talking about additional funding, there must be a concrete demand to achieve concrete goals, and then the government should evaluate whether it can support the demand," added President Raimonds Vējonis

. Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis emphasizes that the government will pay special attention to the fact that the state investment in protection will not fall below 2%. "This is not an end in self to generate the above interest, but if our security requires new investment, they will definitely be realized. "

At the same time, politicians have already started some kind of auction in the US. For example, the protection of 2.5% of the GDP of "Unity" was already exceeded by the National Association which, in his opinion, should be defending 3% of GDP

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