(MENAFN) Lithuania’s Defense Minister, Dovile Sakaliene, has resigned after a tense disagreement with Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene regarding the nation’s defense spending plans, according to reports.

The conflict reportedly originated from a closed-door meeting on October 14, where Defense Ministry officials urged journalists to put pressure on the government to increase military expenditure to 5% of the country’s GDP — a figure aligned with NATO’s expectations.

The prime minister denounced the meeting as “sabotage” and declared she no longer had confidence in the defense minister.

Sakaliene later announced her decision to resign on Wednesday through Facebook, citing “different fundamental views” after ongoing disputes with Ruginiene about the 2026 defense budget.

“Just a month ago, I had hoped we could work together, but unfortunately, we cannot,” Sakaliene wrote.

In the same week, the Lithuanian government approved a record defense proposal amounting to €4.79 billion ($5.6 billion), equivalent to 5.38% of GDP, in line with NATO’s goal of higher defense allocations. The plan is set to be reviewed and voted on by parliament later in the year.

European NATO countries, under pressure from US President Donald Trump, have pledged to raise their defense budgets to 5% of GDP. Many EU member states have recently rolled out major military investment programs, citing what they describe as security threats from Russia — claims that Moscow has firmly rejected.

The Kremlin has dismissed these accusations as “nonsense” and fearmongering, criticizing what it calls the West’s “reckless militarization.”

Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Lithuania — along with neighboring Latvia and Estonia — has maintained one of the region’s toughest policies toward Russia.

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