Greece plans to formally request an exemption from European Union budgetary restrictions for part of its defense spending in 2026, according to Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis.
On Tuesday, the government will submit a proposal to the European Commission asking that €500 million in defense expenditures be excluded from the bloc’s fiscal limits. This amount, earmarked for 2026, represents less than 0.3% of the country’s gross domestic product.
“The increase planned for the period from 2025 to 2026 is approximately half a billion euros, and this also concerns the following years. The government has presented a very specific defense spending program,” Pierrakakis emphasized.
He noted that the request is being made under the EU’s so-called fiscal exceptional clause, which provides flexibility for certain types of spending under specific circumstances.
The Finance Minister also explained the broader context of the EU’s updated budgetary framework. “What have we learned? That we must achieve high primary surpluses. This, of course, still applies. However, today we cannot use these surpluses in the same way as before, that is, by spending them annually. Why? Because now all European countries have agreed on new rules regarding annual expenditures,” he added.
When questioned about the intended use of the funds, Pierrakakis clarified: “We were already spending them on military needs. Therefore, if you exclude military spending from total expenditures, you obviously gain additional budgetary space that can be used for development and social priorities.”
