The British government will put the arms industry into war mode, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said during a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a visit to Warsaw. Sunak also announced that Britain would increase defense spending to at least 2.5 percent of GDP by 2030, from about 2.3 percent of GDP currently.
According to Sunak, Britain is facing “the biggest defense boost in the last generation” and according to the plans of the British government, the country should have the largest military force in Europe and the second largest in the North Atlantic Alliance after the United States.
As previously announced by Sunak’s office, Britain will provide Ukraine with the largest package of military aid worth 500 million pounds (14.7 billion crowns) to defend against Russian aggression. It will contain, for example, almost four million pieces of ammunition, 400 vehicles, 60 ships or long-range Storm Shadow missiles.
Sunak pointed out that a possible Russian victory in the war in Ukraine would encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin. “They will not stop at Ukraine … They desire, even if they do not yet have the capacity to do so, to attack other European countries, potentially including NATO allies that we have a duty to defend, just as they have a duty to defend us,” Sunak said. He was accompanied by Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt and Defense Secretary Grant Shapps on his way to Poland. Later, Sunak will meet with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
“An investment in Ukraine is an investment in our security,” Sunak emphasized.
“The reality is that having an aggressive neighbor comes with costs, and we have a very aggressive neighbor,” NATO chief Stoltenberg said of Russia. He praised Britain for its plan to increase defense spending. According to him, it is also about showing the United States that European countries share in the costs.
NATO member countries are supposed to spend two percent of GDP annually on defense. Last year, the Czech Republic allocated 1.5 percent of GDP for this purpose. But a year ago, the Chamber of Deputies approved a law according to which the Czech Republic will spend at least two percent of GDP on defense every year.
