Estonia's prime minister is calling on all NATO countries, including Canada, to increase their defence spending to a minimum of 2 per cent of national GDP in response to Russia's war on Ukraine.
"The security situation in the world has completely changed after the 24th of February," Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told CBC News Network's Power & Politics, citing the day Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.
"It is wise even for those countries that have much better neighbours than we do [to] still think about this," Kallas said to host Vassy Kapelos. "If you look at the long-haul missiles, they go pretty far."
NATO allies, including Canada, agreed in 2014 to increase defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP by 2024.
Canada has never hit that target and currently spends only 1.39 per cent of GDP on defence, according to NATO figures. The Liberal government's defence spending forecast only sees Canada hitting 1.48 per cent by 2024-25.
Estonia — a small nation of 1.3 million people bordering Russia — currently spends 2.28 per cent of its GDP on defence and has consistently exceeded the two per cent target since 2014.
"I understand that politically that there could be disputes over defence spending. I mean, I would also like to spend more on education and research and development than on defence, but this is the reality that we have here," said Kallas.
While the Trudeau government has not committed to meeting NATO's target, Defence Minister Anita Anand said earlier this month that Canada will spend more on defence.
"Why? Because we see the threat environment as changing rapidly but also because continental defence is a priority for me, personally as minister, and for our government," Anand told CBC's Power & Politics.
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