Germany to Significantly Increase Defense Spending Amid Russian Threat – Bloomberg

The planned amount also includes 9 billion euros per year to help Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.

Germany plans to double its annual defence budget to €162 billion within four years in response to growing Russian aggression in Europe.

As Bloomberg reports , citing a statement by a high-ranking official, the goal should be achieved by 2029, which is significantly ahead of NATO’s military spending target of 3.5% of countries’ total GDP by 2035. Notably, this amount also includes 9 billion euros per year to help Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.

The authors note that the figures underscore how aggressively Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil are pushing the country’s rearmament. They are also a reaction to Russia’s relentless attacks in Ukraine and concerns that the US could abandon its commitment to defend Europe under Donald Trump.

Germany’s ruling coalition has already exempted defense spending above 1% of GDP from the debt cap, and has created a €500 billion fund for building roads, railways, power grids and schools.

“One of the biggest challenges for Berlin will be actually allocating additional military budget, given acute production problems, long queues and persistent delays in large procurement orders. Among the potential purchases, Germany is considering buying up to 2,500 GTK Boxer armored fighting vehicles and up to 1,000 Leopard 2 battle tanks as part of a joint European effort to create new NATO brigades,” the article says.

The sources noted that the orders, which are being considered by senior Bundeswehr generals and the country’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, could be worth up to 25 billion euros.

The government also released a document showing that Germany’s regular budget for next year includes net new debt of €89.9 billion, rising to €126.9 billion by 2029.Read also:

Europe increases defense spending

France predicts that a major military conflict could occur in Europe in 2030 due to the Russian threat, which continues to spread. In this regard, it is proposed to increase defense spending to rearm and increase the country’s resilience.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg wrote that one of the NATO countries was released from the obligation to spend 5% of GDP on defense . We are talking about Spain. The country’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that his country could increase defense spending to 2.1%.

(C)UNIAN 2025