After meeting with his US counterpart at a gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey, Germany’s foreign minister said Berlin is willing to “follow” US President’s Trump’s demand for increased defense spending.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday that Berlin accepts in principle the demand from the United States that NATO member states increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.
Speaking on the sidelines of an informal gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Antalya, Turkey, Wadephul said: “The result is the 5% that President [Donald] Trump has called for, and we will follow him in this respect.”
NATO members are currently committed to spending at least 2% of GDP on military expenditure, a target which around one third of the alliance still doesn’t meet, including Portugal (1.55%), Italy (1.49%), Canada (1.37%), Belgium (1.3%) and Spain (1.28%).
Germany currently spends just over 2% of its GDP on defense and new Chancellor Friedrich Merz said last week that each additional percentage point would mean further annual expenditure of €45 billion ($50.5 billion).
Rubio on NATO: ‘No weak links’
With some countries considering 5% unrealistic, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last week suggested a compromise whereby classic military spending be increased to 3.5% with the remaining 1.5% to be invested in defense-related infrastructure.
“For example, to make sure that bridges are there for you and me to drive our cars, but also, if necessary, to make sure that the bridge will hold a tank,” he said upon arrival at the Antalya meeting.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the 5% target would not be reached in just a couple of years and would pose a financial challenge for the United States, too, which currently spends only 3.37% of GDP on defense – albeit by far the most in absolute terms.
“NATO has the opportunity to grow even stronger,” he said in Antalya. “The alliance is only as strong as its weakest link, and we intend and endeavor to have no weak links in this alliance.”
Merz: German army to be ‘strongest in Europe’
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Merz declared his intention to reinvest in Germany’s armed forces in order to transform the Bundeswehr into the “strongest conventional army in Europe.”
In his first major address to parliament since his new coalition government was inaugurated last week, Merz promised that Germany would take on greater responsibility within NATO and the European Union.
“This is appropriate for Europe’s most populous and economically powerful country,” he said. “Our friends and partners expect this from us. Indeed, they practically demand it.”
Edited by: Wesley Rahn
DW News
