German Defense Minister pushing for sharp increase in defense spending - Reuters
Photo: German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (Getty Images)
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is pushing for an increase in the defense budget. Expenditures could rise to more than 60 billion euros, Reuters reports.
According to two sources spoken to by the news agency, the Bundeswehr chief is seeking to dramatically increase the country's annual defense budget.
One of them said that the minister is seeking to increase the budget to more than 60 billion euros ($68.21 billion) starting in 2025.
According to one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Pistorius is seeking to have the budget increase take effect in 2025.
Change of Chancellor in Germany
Pistorius' initiative became known after the Bundestag elected a new German Chancellor. It was the leader of the CDU/CSU bloc, Friedrich Merz. He replaced the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz.
Some EU countries introduce emergency measures to increase defense spending. They called the war in Ukraine an exceptional circumstance. Germany is on this list.
Currently, each NATO country must spend 2% of its GDP on defense. As Welt previously wrote, Germany hardly fulfills the quota, and seven EU countries do not reach it, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium.
