According to a study, the objective of allocating 2% of GDP to the defense area will continue to be unattainable for the European country in the next 5 years.
Germany could not meet, in the next five years, the NATO objective of investing 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in military defense, according to Bloomberg on Monday, referring to a report by the German Research Institute Economic.
According to the outlet, despite the fact that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz asserted that there was a need to invest more in security to protect the country’s freedom and democracy when Russia launched the special operation in Ukraine in February, the study shows that the defense spending target of 2% of GDP will remain unattainable for Germany until 2026.
NATO maintains that Germany’s investment in the area this 2022 reached 1.4% of its GDP, that is, 25% less than the percentage that the Alliance requires from its members for defense. A figure that places the country behind the US, which has spent 3.5% of its GDP, the United Kingdom with 2.1% and France with 1.9%.
Berlin has recently allocated 10 billion euros (10.5 billion dollars) to the acquisition of American F-35A Lightning II fighter jets, in an attempt to increase its military spending and reach the aforementioned 2% of the product.
However, the report argues that even the debt-financed €100 billion special defense fund, which was created earlier this year, will not be able to change the situation. The regular defense budget, not including that special fund, would need to increase by at least 5% per year for Germany to reach the target, according to the study.
Source:
Germany to Miss Military Spending Target Next Year, Study Says
