Germany: Committed to meeting NATO defence spending goals

BERLIN – Germany’s defence minister says the country is committed to spending 2 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence in keeping with its pledge to NATO..

Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday that defence spending would be among the topics at a NATO meeting in Brussels later this week.

The U.S. and others long have called for NATO members to honour their financial commitments, a message that has intensified under President Donald Trump.

Von der Leyen said: “It’s fully right that the burden should be fairly divided” and that Germany is increasing its defence budget accordingly. It currently spends about 1.2 per cent of GDP on defence.

She noted that defence spending doesn’t mean only supporting NATO, saying that Germany is also committed to European Union and United Nations missions.