Germany aims to boost defense spending to 3.5% of GDP
The Minister of Economy and Green Party candidate for chancellor, Robert Habeck, advocates for increasing Germany's defense spending to 3.5% of GDP over the next few years. "We need to spend almost twice as much on defense so that Putin does not dare to attack us," he told the weekly "Spiegel."
Habeck emphasized that such defense expenditures would allow Germany to ensure peace and prevent further conflict.
According to the Minister of Economy, additional spending on the German army should not be financed from the current budget or through cuts to citizens' incomes. Such a large sum, according to Habeck, "can ultimately only be financed through loans." The politician proposed either reforming the so-called debt brake or creating special funds.
The Minister of Economy and the military
Habeck declared in an interview with "Spiegel" that today he would join the Bundeswehr. He admitted that during the Cold War, he refused military service, but now the situation is different. "Today, I would no longer have any moral argument to refuse. An aggressor like Putin exploits weakness ruthlessly," said the Green leader.
The current NATO goal is for member countries to invest at least 2% of their GDP in defense. According to the latest NATO data, Germany has allocated approximately 93.4 billion US dollars for defense in 2024, which corresponds to about 2.1% of the country's GDP. Last year, only four out of the 32 NATO countries (aside from the USA) likely reached the three percent level.
