secretary-general’s annual report released in March, Portugal spent 1.38 per cent of GDP on defence in 2022, an increase for the prior year, but still below the target of two per cent of GDP outlined by NATO.
For this year, the Portuguese government plans to increase spending to 1.66 per cent – a goal that was initially set for 2024 – and reach two per cent by the end of the decade, Defence Minister Helena Carreiras said in February.‘There could be WWIII’: Defence officials urge feds to meet NATO commitments
Meanwhile, Costa said that as a founding country of NATO, Portugal “remains faithful to the values it has assumed”. The NATO chief has repeatedly urged allies to speed up increases in defence spending as the world had “become more dangerous” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.