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).
Continue reading HERE
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-backs-5-nato-defense-spending-target/a-72549909
[Disclaimer]
