Romania is one of the top spenders in the European Union on defense as a percentage of its gross domestic product, new figures reveal.
EU states spent almost 170 billion euros on defense in 2019, according to Eurostat figures published Friday. That was 2.6% of all government spending and the equivalent of 1.2% of their GDP.
The European Statistics Office said Romania and France both allocated 1.8% of their national output on defense.
At the other end of the scale, Ireland spent 0.2% and Luxembourg 0.4%. Luxembourg is a NATO member, but Ireland isn’t.
Cyprus which is the most eastern part of the EU, and lies within close range of the volatile Middle East spent 1.8%. It isn’t a member of the military alliance.
Latvia and Estonia NATO members which share a border with Russia spent 1.9% and 2.1% respectively.
Greece, also close to the Middle East has historically difficult relations with its neighbor Turkey. It spent 2% for the same year.
Defense spending has increased across the bloc since 2014, while the percentage of the GDP has remained stable, at about 1.2%.
Many EU members are in NATO. In 2006, In 2006, defense ministers agreed to to commit a minimum of 2% of their GDP to defense spending, although it hasn’t happened in some cases.
Romania increased its spending from 0.7% of its GDP in 2014 to a peak of 1.8% in 2017.
Romania joined NATO in 2004 and enjoys good relations with all its neighbors. However, it is a Black Sea country, an area of increased Russian activity in recent years.
Last year, 11 out of 30 alliance members reached the target of earmarking at least 2% of GDP for defense, according to NATO’s recent annual report, Euractiv reported.
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