Estonia is worried over defense spending cuts by NATO member states, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said on Wednesday.
“Allied spending, required to maintain NATO’s defense capability, is a matter of trust in the organization,” Ilves told Knud Bartels，chairman of NATO 's Military Committee, on a two day visit in Tallinn.
Estonia’s defense spending in 2012 rose by 21.8 percent to 341 million euros. The government is under an obligation to raise defense spending to 2 percent of GDP.
NATO has adopted a Smart Defense “austerity” program in times when “each euro, dollar or pound sterling counts” which prioritizes pooling and sharing capabilities, setting priorities and coordinating efforts better.
