NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is urging Germany to increase its defense budget. The benchmark is the spending during the Cold War.
Berlin – Jens Stoltenberg never gets tired: The NATO Secretary General is calling on Germany to spend more money on defense. The head of the North Atlantic defense alliance now insisted in an interview with the newspapers of the Funke media group that the two percent target should be adhered to.
Stoltenberg recalled the decision of the NATO summit in Vilnius, according to which two percent of gross domestic product for military spending is “the minimum”. He assumes that many allies will be able to exceed this goal. As a former head of government in Norway, he knows how difficult it is to budget more money for defense when higher spending on health, education or infrastructure is also necessary. But if tensions increase in the world, defense spending would need to be increased, he said.
Economic experts see the two percent target as a long way off.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz After the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, Germany declared a “turning point” in the Bundestag and said that “from now on – year after year – Germany will invest more than two percent of its gross domestic product in our defense.” According to calculations by the Ifo Institute, Germany could miss this target again by 2024. The defense budget has been from Minister since 2022 Boris Pistorius Adjusted for prices, it even fell, according to the institute.
Since Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Europe is once again experiencing a “hot war”. That’s why NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg reminded Germany of the Cold War phase after the founding of the Federal Republic: “In the Cold War, when Konrad Adenauer or Willy Brandt ruled, defense spending was three to four percent of economic output,” said the Norwegian. “We did it then, and we have to do it again today.”
Stoltenberg confident: He sees Germany on the “good path”
However, he did attest to the German government’s initial success in investing two percent of its economic output in defense. He sees Germany, as he says, “on the right track” there. “It makes a huge difference for the alliance whether Europe’s largest country adheres to this requirement or not,” said the NATO Secretary General. “Two percent of a large cake is more than two percent of a small cake.” Stoltenberg does not expect the fighting in Ukraine to end quickly and therefore that NATO will continue to have to make great efforts.
The current defense budget for 2023 includes around 50.1 billion euros plus around 8.4 billion euros from the special fund. The financial plan for the defense department also provides for an increase of around 7.3 billion euros in total between 2024 and 2027 compared to the previous financial plan. In order to address the changed security situation in Europe as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the Federal Government set up the Bundeswehr special fund worth 100 billion euros as part of the new era. Around 19.2 billion euros will be used for 2024.
The parties are divided on further increases: The Greens expressed reservations about further increases in defense spending. Especially in times of tight budgets, it is also important to “look carefully at the needs of the troops and to avoid double spending through more European cooperation,” said Green Party leader Omid Nouripour of the Funke media group. “It doesn’t help us much to discuss abstract percentages,” said the chairman of the European Committee, Anton Hofreiter (Greens). He called for targeted investments, faster delivery of systems to Ukraine and better cooperation among EU states and within NATO.
The CDU parliamentary group deputy Johann Wadephul saw Stoltenberg’s statements as a “yellow card” for the federal government. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will be judged by his actions. “The defense budget is stagnating, which is a step backwards in times of high inflation,” Wadephul said. “Continuous growth would be necessary. Our partners see this with disappointment.”
Boris Pistorius defended the budget planning for the Bundeswehr in the federal government
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) declared in the Bundestag on September 6th that the defense budget should increase next year – by 1.7 billion euros to 51.8 billion euros. With the funds from the Bundeswehr’s “special fund” a total of around 71 billion euros would be available, which is more than ever before, he said.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, spending on defense between 1991 and 2021 showed the second weakest increase of all government areas, with an increase of 35.8 percent – not adjusted for prices. In 2020, Germany’s share of defense spending in total government spending was 2.2 percent, below the European Union average of 2.5 percent.
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