Now the bar has been raised. Mr. Trump said in January that NATO members “can all afford it, but they should be at 5 percent, not 2 percent.” Five percent is an ambitious goal for even the United States, where the Department of Defense budget is about 3.5 percent of G.D.P. But given the security threats the United States and Europe face, ambition is what we need.
Poland spends close to 5 percent of its G.D.P. on defense — the highest proportion in NATO. We have become one of the U.S. military industry’s most important customers, ordering tens of billions worth of equipment since 2022. We buy Patriot missile systems, Abrams tanks, Apache helicopters and F-35 fighter jets produced in America. Europe and Poland’s desire for closer military cooperation with the United States and its ambition to strengthen its own defense industry are not contradictory.
The trans-Atlantic alliance has never been a one-way street. The United States supported European defense for decades after World War II, but the only time NATO’s Article 5 has ever been invoked was in response to Sept. 11, when allies came to America’s aid. Poland sent brigades to Afghanistan and Iraq, and kept them there for almost two decades. It never sent a bill.
In 2025, those who do not wish us well are many. The autocratic axis comprising Russia, Iran, North Korea and China represents a grave threat to much of the world. To face such an alliance, America and Europe need each other more, not less — our adversaries want nothing more than to see us fragmented, plagued by economic disputes and unable to lead.
Instead, let’s continue on the path of partnership, of peace through strength, as friends and allies.
Radosław Sikorski is the foreign minister of Poland.
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