Germany’s foreign minister said on Thursday, May 15th, that Berlin was willing to “follow” U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for NATO to ramp up its defence spending target to 5% of GDP.
Minister Johann Wadephul said NATO chief Mark Rutte had laid out a plan to reach “the 5% that President Trump demanded, which he considers necessary.”
“And we follow him there,” Wadephul told a meeting of the alliance in Turkey.
His comments come only days after U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew G. Whitaker said that NATO allies should boost defence spending to at least 5% of GDP, compared to the 2% they are currently obliged to reach. Only 22 of NATO’s 32 member states have reached that mark.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been urging his European allies to spend more on defence because currently the United States bears a disproportionately large burden, contributing significantly more to NATO’s defence spending than its allies.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte recently floated a proposal for allies to commit to 3.5% of direct military spending by 2032, and an additional 1.5% of broader security-related expenditure.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz’s party, together with their coalition partners, the Social Democrats, as well as the opposition Greens recently voted to allow the country to take on a massive €1 trillion debt to boost defence and infrastructure.
The cost of reaching the 5% NATO target amounts to more than €215 billion per year, according to daily Bild.
