The National Security Council ahead of the NATO summit
President Andrzej Duda has reiterated his appeal for a swift adoption of a constitutional amendment that would set defence spending at no less than 4 percent of GDP.
Speaking after a meeting of the National Security Council (RBN) on Wednesday, Andrzej Duda recalled that his proposal to include a minimum defence spending threshold in the country's constitution had been submitted more than a year ago and urged all parliamentary groups as well as the parliamentary speakers to promptly adopt the amendment.
The RBN meeting focused, among other topics, on the NATO summit scheduled for next week in The Hague, where the issue of increased defence spending will be high on the agenda. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has proposed that 3.5 percent of GDP be allocated to defence and an additional 1.5 percent to other security–related needs.
President said that Poland already spends nearly 5 percent of its GDP on defence and that there is broad political consensus on this issue at home. „We hope that the increase we proposed over a year and a half ago, despite some sceptical voices, will nevertheless be adopted,” he said, adding that not all NATO members support the proposals put forward by the secretary general.
Andrzej Duda also referred to the participation of president–elect Karol Nawrocki in the RBN meeting, saying he had invited him to help him prepare for taking office and to familiarise him with the key issues of state security.
(PAP)
