Weeks after the German military warned Russia and the Western military alliance may clash within just months, Germany has shown it is taking the threat posed by Vladimir Putin to Europe seriously as it met the NATO spending target for the first time in years.
A German Defence Ministry spokesperson said on February 14 the country allocated the equivalent of £61.37billion (€71.8bn) for defence spending in 2024 through both regular and special budget outlays. The total defence spending by Berlin, however, remains classified.
This means Germany has reached the target of two percent of its GDP set for each member of the Western military alliance at the summit in Riga in 2006.
Germany is one of the 18 nations set to meet the defence spending target this year, according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
The UK is also one of the nations meeting NATO spending obligations, allocating to it 2.07 percent of its GDP.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels, Mr Stoltenberg said the 31-strong alliance was now collectively meeting the two percent target – despite several nations still not paying their way.
This marks a success, the NATO chief suggested while speaking to journalists, as the number of countries reaching the two percent target over the past 11 years has increased sharply.
He explained: “That is another record number and a six-fold increase from 2014 when only three allies met the target.”
The announcement by Olaf Scholz’s government follows an increase in spending by NATO members prompted by the illegal invasion of Ukraine carried out by Russia almost two years ago.
European NATO members and Canada marked an “unprecedented rise” of 11 percent of defence spending over the past two years, Mr Stoltenberg added.
This came days after Donald Trump, likely to run as the Republican candidate in the US presidential elections in November, said he would “encourage” Russia to attack members who were not meeting the two percent obligation.
Mr Stoltenberg appeared to hit out at Mr Trump as he told him not to “undermine” NATO’s Article 5, which underlines the alliance’s security guarantee that all members would help defend another coming under attack.
He said: “We should leave no room for miscalculation or misunderstanding in Moscow, about our readiness and our commitment, our resolve to protect allies.”
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius also responded to Mr Trump’s remarks and hinted Europe and Canada may create a future where they don’t share a close bond with Washington.
He said in an interview on WELT TV on Tuesday evening that the former US President was risking damaging transatlantic relations and could “ultimately saw off the branch on which America is sitting.”
