Polish President Andrzej Duda will propose that NATO member states raise the minimum level of defense spending to 3% of economic output in his talks with US President Joe Biden, according to Bloomberg.
Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk are traveling to the US to meet Biden at the White House on Tuesday as Warsaw seeks reinforcement of the defense alliance’s eastern flank in the face of the war in Ukraine, Poland’s neighbor.
Duda, speaking before a meeting with Tusk’s government and party leaders, said he wants to propose raising the spending threshold from 2% in talks with all NATO members, including Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday.
“Nobody will dare to attack strong NATO, strong nations that will be able to defend their borders,” Duda said.
The proposal comes after Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner, has said he told a NATO ally during his presidency that he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that didn’t meet the alliance’s defense spending obligations.