German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday spoke out against the idea of increasing Germany’s defence spending, Interfax news agency quoted German media as saying.
Olaf Scholz expressed dissatisfaction with the idea of the German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, candidate for Chancellor Robert Habeck, to increase German defence spending to 3.5% of GDP. He emphasised that a substantial increase in spending is an ill-conceived idea.
‘To substantially increase defence spending without specifying what the money will be used for and from what sources it came from is an ill-conceived idea,’ the agency quoted Scholz as saying.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte earlier urged the alliance countries to significantly increase the defence budget. His statement came amid rumours of NATO’s imminent adoption of a new defence spending target, which is expected to be higher than the current 2% of GDP.
In July 2024, Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured allies of Berlin’s commitment to reach and maintain a defence spending level of 2% of GDP, meeting NATO’s criteria. Moreover, he announced an increase in annual defence spending to €80 billion from 2028 onwards.
However, this promise is made against the backdrop of upcoming early parliamentary elections scheduled for 23 February 2025. The SPD leadership has decided to re-nominate Scholz as a candidate for the position. Although this decision still has to be approved by the party congress on 11 January 2025, German media are treating this as a mere formality, given Scholz’s high rating in the party. Nevertheless, the election ‘race’ promises to be tight, German media noted. Scholz’s main rivals are Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Vice Chancellor Habeck of the Union 90/Greens party, and Alice Weidel, chairwoman of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AdG) party.
The outcome of the election will have a significant impact not only on Germany’s domestic politics, but also on its role in NATO and European security in general.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that European countries bought a record amount of Russian liquefied natural gas despite calls to ban fuel supplies from Russia.
