Germany to increase military spending to more than 2% of GDP

Germany announced on Sunday a sharp increase in its military spending in the years to come and the immediate release of an envelope of 100 billion euros to modernize its under-equipped army. “We will from now on, year after year, invest more than 2% of our Gross Domestic Product in our defence”, declared Chancellor Olaf Scholz during an exceptional session in the Chamber of Deputies.

This announcement goes beyond the objective that NATO countries have set themselves, namely aiming for 2% of national GDP. This is a major reversal for Germany, which in recent years has been dragging its feet to comply with the commitments of the Atlantic Alliance in this area, regularly attracting the wrath of the United States. From this year, the government intends to release an “exceptional” envelope of 100 billion euros to help with the investments that the Bundeswehr sorely needs.

Germany, since the end of the Cold War, has significantly reduced the size of its army, from around 500,000 people when the country was reunified in 1990 to just 200,000 today. In addition, military officials regularly complain of breakdowns in their fighter planes, warships or tanks. The invasion of Ukraine acted as an electric shock in a country steeped in pacifism since the horrors of the Nazis. The head of the Army himself, following the outbreak of war in Ukraine by Moscow, admitted that the Bundeswehr was “naked”.