Greek premier calls on European countries to increase defense spending

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – The Greek prime minister on Thursday called on the European countries to increase their defense spending.

Arguing that Greece has an important role to play in the scope of European strategic autonomy in defense, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: “We are already one of the countries with the highest per capita defense spending in NATO and we encourage all other countries to take action to at least meet NATO's minimum requirement for defense spending of 2% of GDP.”

During his speech at the congress of the European People’s Party in the Romanian capital city of Bucharest, Mitsotakis also reiterated that the EU will continue to stand by Ukraine and its people as long as it takes, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Regarding the European economy, he emphasized the need for strengthening the EU’s competitiveness and following economic policies which would lead to growth and create jobs.