Germany Vows to Increase Defense Budget to Meet NATO Obligations in Long Term
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and FM Sigmar Gabriel have pledged to eventually increase Germany’s military spending to meet NATO targets to counter numerous security threats, including Russia’s perceived “aggression.”
“Germany is conscious of its responsibility,” Merkel said at a joint briefing with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following their meeting in Berlin.
The chancellor stressed that Germany would abide by its commitment to raise defense spending by two percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) but added it's a long-time goal that is likely to be reached only by 2024.
In 2014, NATO members agreed at a summit in Wales that those countries that spend less than two percent of their economic output on defense will bring it in line with NATO demands in ten years.
Germany currently spends only about 1.2 percent of its GDP on defense but Merkel noted that it already increased military spending by eight percent in this year in comparison to the previous period.
“We must do more here, no question, but the matters of development aid and crisis prevention are also important,” she said, Russia Today reported.
FM Gabriel echoed her words at the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Germany this week. “There is no question that Europe will have to take more responsibility for that (military spending), but we cannot reduce security and peace policies to just the extent of military spending,” he said. He also earlier told reporters that Germany would spend some € 25 billion ($ 26.5 billion) a year more on defense to meet the target set by NATO.