Secretary of State Marco Rubio has praised Lithuania for increasing its defense spending, as President Donald Trump pushes for NATO to more than double its current expenditure requirements.
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. embassy in Lithuania for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Trump has frequently threatened to withdraw the U.S. from NATO over cost concerns, criticizing other member countries for failing to meet defense-spending goals.
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What to Know
Lithuania’s Independence Day is celebrated on February 16 each year. It marks the restoration of Lithuania’s independence from Soviet rule in 1990.
In an unusual twist, the date celebrates two independence days. In 1918, the Act of Independence of Lithuania marked the country’s break from Tsarist Russia, and its 1990 counterpart, the breakaway that came amid the fall of the Soviet Union.
Rubio issued a statement in recognition of Lithuania’s independence celebrations, praising the European country as a “trusted partner and stalwart ally” and highlighting its strong economic relationship with the U.S.
Rubio also applauded Lithuania, which shares a border with Russia, for committing to increasing defense spending.
Vilnius is set to raise its defense expenditure to between 5 and 6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) beginning in 2026, the Baltic nation’s president, Gitanas Nausėda, announced in January.
The increase to 5 percent would mean Lithuania overtakes Poland as the NATO country spending the most on defense as a percentage of its GDP.
Trump has previously called on NATO members to increase their defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. The alliance currently sets its minimum defense spending requirement at 2 percent.
Following talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the alliance needs to “ramp up” its spending.
Hegseth also told reporters that NATO needs to “spend more” on defense, while noting that Baltic nations Estonia and Lithuania have already vowed to increase their spending to 5 percent of GDP.
What People Are Saying
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a Sunday statement: “Lithuania is our trusted partner and stalwart ally, and a beacon of freedom. I commend Lithuania’s dedication to advancing our shared priorities and your strong stance against authoritarian regimes, particularly China and Russia.
“We applaud Lithuania’s commitment to making both our countries more secure. The decision to significantly increase defense spending demonstrates your dedication to sharing the burden of our collective defense. I also want to thank you for hosting U.S. rotational forces.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, speaking to reporters in Brussels on Thursday: “Clearly, we have to do more. We have to ramp up defense spending because we know we cannot protect ourselves four or five years from now if we don’t.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking at a Thursday press conference: “Our expectation of our friends—and we say this in solidarity—is you have to spend more on your defense, for your country, on that continent, understanding that the American military and the American people stand beside you, as we have in NATO.”
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, at a January press conference in the country’s capital of Vilnius: “The possibility of Russian military aggression is still real, but not imminent. We need to increase our efforts to strengthen defense and deterrence significantly, devoting more resources to this end.”
What Happens Next
Rutte announced Saturday at the Munich Security Conference that NATO member nations are will need to boost their defense spending to “considerably more” than 3 percent of their GDP, reported Politico.
This target could be agreed upon at the NATO leaders’ summit in June in The Hague in the Netherlands.
