(Bloomberg) -- Hungary plans to cut back on defense spending next year just as Donald Trump, one of the biggest proponents of NATO members shouldering a larger share of the military costs, returns to the US presidency.

Facing a budget squeeze, Hungary plans to lower military spending to slightly below 2% of gross domestic product from a targeted 2.2% this year, according to next year’s fiscal plan published this week. Military expenditures will also be lowered in nominal terms from 2024.

The reversal is in stark contrast with spending levels in some other eastern European NATO members, such as the Baltic nations or Poland, which are allocating upward of 3% of GDP on their militaries due to heightened security concerns following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Hungary, which borders Ukraine, is going the other way despite Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s close ties to Trump and his support for stronger European defense capabilities. The Defense Ministry didn’t respond to Bloomberg queries about the spending cuts.

Orban is struggling to create spending room for stimulus in the run-up to the 2026 general elections, with his ruling party lagging in polls, much of Hungary’s European Union funding frozen and the economy in recession after a sharp manufacturing downturn. 

Adding to pressures, the EU’s executive this year re-started its excessive-deficit procedure against Hungary due to fiscal slippages while credit rating agencies have warned of the risk of a credit downgrade should the government relax its budget goals.

Orban’s government had been increasing military spending since 2018, when it had spent just 1% of GDP on defense. Big ticket procurements since have included new Leopard tanks from Germany’s Rheinmetall AG, an expanded fleet of Gripen fighter jets supplied by Sweden’s Saab AB and a US-Norwegian air defense system.

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