Germany dismisses Trump's request for higher military expenditure
Germany will not allocate nearly half of its federal budget to defense, according to Boris Pistorius. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
Berlin is not prepared to allocate nearly half of its federal budget to defense, according to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. He emphasized that the country cannot afford to meet US President Donald Trump's request for NATO members to spend 5% of their GDP on the military.
In an interview with Tagesspiegel on Saturday, Pistorius stated that while there is an “undisputed” need for increased defense investment, Germany faces financial limitations. He elaborated, saying, “5% of our GDP would correspond to 42% of the federal budget. That would be almost every second euro spent by the federal government, €230 billion. We could neither afford that nor spend that.”
Pistorius criticized the emphasis on achieving higher percentage targets, arguing that “The competition for even higher percentages distracts from the actual issue at hand. It is crucial that we explain to our citizens what threats we face and show them the best possible way to protect ourselves.” He did, however, acknowledge the necessity for Germany to increase defense spending in the future, recognizing that it will have to exceed the current target of 2% of GDP.
During a press conference in early January, Trump expressed his frustrations about European allies' contributions to NATO, insisting, “They can all afford it, but they should be at 5%, not 2%,” and lamented that “Europe is in for a tiny fraction of the money that we are in” when it comes to defense investments. He had previously warned that the US would not defend NATO allies that do not meet their financial commitments.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda supported Trump’s 5% target in an interview with Newsweek, stating, “You can never feel safe living in this part of the world because we have this neighbor and we will still have it after one hundred or two hundred years,” referring to Russia.
In contrast, last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed claims of planned aggression against NATO as “nonsense” and “utter rubbish,” suggesting that such allegations are constructed by Western politicians to justify increased defense spending. He maintained, “In Ukraine, we are just protecting ourselves.”
Max Fischer contributed to this report for TROIB News
In an interview with Tagesspiegel on Saturday, Pistorius stated that while there is an “undisputed” need for increased defense investment, Germany faces financial limitations. He elaborated, saying, “5% of our GDP would correspond to 42% of the federal budget. That would be almost every second euro spent by the federal government, €230 billion. We could neither afford that nor spend that.”
Pistorius criticized the emphasis on achieving higher percentage targets, arguing that “The competition for even higher percentages distracts from the actual issue at hand. It is crucial that we explain to our citizens what threats we face and show them the best possible way to protect ourselves.” He did, however, acknowledge the necessity for Germany to increase defense spending in the future, recognizing that it will have to exceed the current target of 2% of GDP.
During a press conference in early January, Trump expressed his frustrations about European allies' contributions to NATO, insisting, “They can all afford it, but they should be at 5%, not 2%,” and lamented that “Europe is in for a tiny fraction of the money that we are in” when it comes to defense investments. He had previously warned that the US would not defend NATO allies that do not meet their financial commitments.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda supported Trump’s 5% target in an interview with Newsweek, stating, “You can never feel safe living in this part of the world because we have this neighbor and we will still have it after one hundred or two hundred years,” referring to Russia.
In contrast, last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed claims of planned aggression against NATO as “nonsense” and “utter rubbish,” suggesting that such allegations are constructed by Western politicians to justify increased defense spending. He maintained, “In Ukraine, we are just protecting ourselves.”
Max Fischer contributed to this report for TROIB News
