Albania reduced defense spending below NATO obligations

18/02/2017 00:00

The United States of America spend more than any other NATO member for its military, 3.6% of the GDP.

Greece may be a surprise for many, due to the deep economic crisis, but they come second to the USA, spending 2.6% of their GDP on defense.

Most of other NATO countries, even those enjoying a strong economy, like the UK, Italy and Germany, spend between 1% and 2% of their GDP.

For many years, after becoming a NATO member, Albania has also been part of this group. But the government decided to reduce the defense spending to 0.7% of the GDP.

This listed Albania among the countries which spend less on defense. To reach the NATO obligations, Albania needs to spend an additional 100 million EUR each year.

At first sight, taken from a 3 billion EUR total budget, it may seem quite affordable. But 70% of that 3 billion has a fixed destination for salaries, pensions and indispensable administrative costs.

The additional 100 million EUR would have to be removed from public infrastructure investments, secured through government debt, or collected from higher taxes.

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