Riga, Sept. 28, (dpa/GNA) - NATO member Lithuania will increase its defence and security spending by €148 million ($142.5 million) this year.
The government in Vilnius on Wednesday approved the allocation of additional funds from the budget after the Finance Ministry revised upward its forecast for economic growth in the EU country.
The money will be used to buy armoured military vehicles, HIMARS precision missile launchers, radars and ammunition, Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said, according to the BNS news agency.
Lithuania, rattled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had decided in the spring to increase its defence spending from 2.05% to 2.52% of gross domestic product.
For 2022, Lithuania had originally planned defence spending of €1.2 billion. Lithuania borders the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia’s ally Belarus.
GNA