Estonia: Defence spending may rise to 5% of GDP: minister

Estonia may need to raise its defence spending to 5% of GDP to implement NATO’s new defence plans, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur stated, ERR reports. He said that Estonia clearly needed to acquire more capabilities, including air defence systems and equipment to deal with chemical and biological weapons. The money needed would amount to EUR 250-300mn per year over the next 20 years, the minister estimated. This would raise Estonia’s defence spending from the current 3% to around 4.5-5% of GDP, he said. Kalev Stoicescu, chairman of the national defence committee of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, noted that Estonia did not have to buy everything itself.