NATO’s two per cent defence spending target can only be met by Germany in 2024 thanks to “accounting acrobatics”. The opposition CDU party is criticising the government in Berlin for spending money from the Bundeswehr’s special fund on support for Ukraine and the overall accounting system is too opaque, writes Focus magazine.
NATO countries have pledged to spend 2 per cent of their budgets annually on the armed forces, and after the Russian special operation in Ukraine, Chancellor Scholz promised his partners in Europe and America that Germany would continue to adhere to this goal, Focus writes. However, in the federal budget for 2024, the German government will only achieve it through “accounting acrobatics”, the opposition CDU party criticises.
In fact, the Bundeswehr was to receive an additional €100bn for modernisation. This special fund, a supplementary budget approved by the German parliament, is primarily for the purchase of modern military equipment. However, aid to Ukraine is now also paid for from this budget. From this year, Germany plans to spend a total of €8bn on armaments for Ukraine.
“Contrary to what was envisaged in the Basic Law, the special fund is used for current operations and support, not for the new organisation of the Bundeswehr,” said foreign and security policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter. – “It’s a really opaque system, a system that wants to give the impression that two per cent can still be achieved. He also criticises the German government’s calculations on aid to Ukraine and claims the figures are embellished. Germany has reported more than €17bn in international aid to Ukraine, but this amount also includes social support for more than a million Ukrainian refugees in Germany.
In addition, Germany’s calculations were also criticised by the French government: according to German figures, Paris has given less than €1bn in aid to Ukraine over the past two years, which would put France 13th among Ukraine’s supporters. French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said recently that he disagreed with this ranking.