NATO spending top of mind during Trudeau’s Poland trip

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Monday.

During his visit, the topic of NATO spending and the conflict in Ukraine were top of mind.

The Polish head of state took the opportunity to reiterate the need for more defence spending from its Western allies and pointed to his own country’s military budget — which has surged over the past few years.

Recent figures have pegged Poland’s defence spending at 3.1 per cent of its total GDP, exceeding the 2 per cent guideline recommended by NATO.

Canada currently sits at 1.3 per cent of its total GDP spending, but Trudeau said that’s set to change.

“I recognize Poland stepping up significantly in its own military spending. But so will Canada,” he said.

The meetings come in the wake of Trudeau’s trip to Ukraine on Saturday, which was overshadowed by the country’s recent loss of the strategic town Avdiivka, and the two-year anniversary that marked the beginning of the war.

READ MORE: Ukrainian town of Avdiivka falls into Russian control

“The active involvement of Poland … in standing up to Russia, in pushing back on its illegal destabilization of the rules-based order, is unbelievably important,” Trudeau said.