Greece is heading into this week's NATO summit as one of only five alliance members to have already met the defense spen...

Greece is heading into this week's NATO summit as one of only five alliance members to have already met the defense spending targets agreed at last year's Hague summit. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is attending the summit, which is being held during a period of heightened geopolitical uncertainty and with burden-sharing front and center on the agenda. Greek defense spending is estimated at 3.6% of GDP for 2026, up from 2.75% in 2025 and 2.74% in 2024. That puts Greece in the top five NATO countries to have already hit the Hague benchmark of 3.5% for core military spending, alongside Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The overall NATO target calls for member states to reach 5% of GDP in total defense-related spending by 2035, split between 3.5% for core military and 1.5% for broader security investments including dual-use infrastructure and defense industry development. According to Greek government sources, Greece never dropped below the previous 2% NATO target even during its severe debt crisis years, when many other alliance members were falling short. The country is also midway through a 25 billion euro, 12-year military modernization program that officials say will keep it firmly within NATO's top-spending tier. Mitsotakis has been among the earliest European leaders to push publicly for greater European investment in collective defense and a stronger European pillar within NATO. Greece's official position holds that a more capable European defense capacity strengthens rather than competes with the United States inside the alliance. The summit program opens Tuesday evening with a dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife for NATO leaders. The presidents of Ukraine and South Korea will also attend. There is no scheduled bilateral meeting between Mitsotakis and Erdogan on the sidelines of the summit. #NATO #Greece #Defense