The German government said on Monday that Germany met NATO's target of spending 2 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence budget in 2024.
Even though U.S. President Donald Trump calls for as much as 5 per cent, reaching such a goal presents some problems.
Germany has increased its military spending since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This is due to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's centre-left government, which has been providing weaponry to Kyiv and updating its own military forces. However, Germany, which has the largest economy in Europe, has struggled with budgetary limitations, making it uncertain whether there would be additional long-term commitments to military expenditure.
Trump, who was scheduled to be inaugurated as president later on Monday, previously stated that members of the NATO military alliance should spend as much as 5 per cent of their GDP on defence. This would be a significant increase from the present aim, and no NATO country, including the United States, currently meets this level of spending.
The German Ministry of Defence held a press conference in Berlin and announced the defence budget. According to its defence spending, Germany has not spent 4.3 billion euros of its defence budget. A total of 90.8 billion euros had been made available, which would have been equivalent to a NATO quota of 2.1per cent of economic production.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said that the 4.3 billion euros were not used because of delays in the production of military equipment. This was in answer to a question. According to the spokesperson, 2.6 billion euros of this amount were not used from the German Armed Forces Special Fund, and 1.7 billion euros were not utilised from the 2024 military budget.
