Eastern Flank Strategic Partnership Act of 2025
H.R. 5793, the Eastern Flank Strategic Partnership Act of 2025, seeks to reinforce U.S. strategic defense cooperation with NATO allies on Europe’s Eastern Flank. It would designate a group of Eastern Flank partners, define priority criteria for defense cooperation, and direct the use of existing U.S. authorities (such as Foreign Military Financing, Section 333 authority, excess defense articles, and the War Reserve Stocks for Allies program) to bolster resilience, logistics, and interoperability with these allies. The bill also calls for expanding stockpiling and pre-positioning of defense articles and requires a congressional briefing within 180 days on implementation. The overarching goal is to deter aggression from Russia/Belarus, strengthen alliance interoperability, and support Ukraine, while prioritizing these partners in security assistance and joint exercises.
Key Points
- 1Defines “Eastern Flank strategic defense partner” as NATO member states on or near the eastern border with Russia/Belarus/Ukraine, meeting a 5% of GDP defense spending target by 2035 (3.5% for core defense needs and 1.5% for other security-related investments), hosting or supporting forward NATO deployments, and facing persistent threats. The included countries are Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
- 2Establishes policy and priority to treat these partners as top recipients of U.S. security assistance and cooperation, prioritizing: Foreign Military Financing (FMF), Section 333 capacity-building programs, transfer of excess defense articles, and participation in bilateral and multilateral exercises, interoperability training, logistics, and forward mobility planning.
- 3Directs the Secretary of Defense (in coordination with the Secretary of State) to implement stockpiling and pre-positioning of defense articles through the War Reserve Stocks for Allies program, with consideration for expanding stockpiles in additional Eastern Flank partners as appropriate.
- 4Requires a briefing to Congress within 180 days of enactment outlining the implementation plan, timelines, goals, and cooperative mechanisms for sections 3 and 4 (definitions and policy/priority).
- 5Builds on existing authorities and tools (FMF, Section 333, excess defense articles, WRSA) to enhance resilience, logistics, and interoperability with the Eastern Flank partners and to support Ukraine’s defense needs.