German Armed Forces will fall short of approximately 6 billion euros - Ministry of Defense
Photo: Germany's armed forces will lack about 6 billion euros (Getty Images)
Germany's Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, noted that next year the German Armed Forces may fall short by up to 6 billion euros. Germany faces the risk of not meeting the NATO quota for military expenditures at 2% of GDP, reports Bild.
According to the budget planning of Finance Minister Christian Lindner for 2025, there is an allocation of 52 billion euros for the Bundeswehr. However, according to experts from the Ministry of Defense, to achieve the NATO goal of 2% of GDP for military spending, Germany's defense budget needs to increase by 4.5-6 billion euros.
Financial problems and the number of underfunded projects continue to grow. In the 100-billion-euro special fund for the Bundeswehr, the following allocations were made:
- 2 billion euros for a new army-wheeled tank, although analysts estimate that the cost will increase by 700 million euros.
- No funds were allocated for the purchase of armored vehicles and Eurofighter aircraft.
- There is a shortfall of 700 million euros for the reconstruction of the Büchel airbase for the F-35 fighter jets.
- No funds have been allocated for the deployment of a Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania, estimated to cost at least five billion euros.
Minister of Defense Pistorius has already informed Olaf Scholz about the financial difficulties. Currently, the Ministry of Defense is in negotiations with the Ministry of Finance regarding additional funding, but so far, without success. According to reports, there may be a "hole" of 25 billion euros in the budget for 2025, excluding the needs of the Bundeswehr.
The Ministry of Finance has suggested compensating for the military's needs by cutting some social expenditures, but Scholz stated his intention to achieve the NATO target without any cuts in social payments.
In 2024, Germany plans to spend 73 billion euros on defense, constituting 2% of the projected GDP. Scholz had previously announced that the country would adhere to this target annually.
The US military may run out of funds for supporting Ukraine. The US Army might need to divert funds from other projects to sustain the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
As of October 2023, the US Army has already spent over $430 million on various operations, such as training Ukrainian forces, transporting equipment, and redeploying US troops to Europe.
These expenditures were covered by the US Army Europe and Africa Command. Without an approved budget from Congress for the year 2024 and additional funding for Ukraine's needs, the command is faced with approximately $3 billion to cover operational expenses of $5 billion.
