For the first time since the Cold War, Germany will achieve the target of 2 percent of NATO budget.

Germany will meet NATO’s defense spending target of 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) for the first time since the early 1990s, according to a Defense Ministry spokesman and a NATO forecast released on Wednesday. German news agency dpa reported the German government’s reported allocation for defense spending in the current year at $73.41 billion (€68.58 billion), which it said would amount to 2.01% of Germany’s GDP. Germany will spend 1.57% of GDP on defense in 2023, well below the 2% target. However, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised to meet the 2% spending commitment during a visit to Rhinemetall’s future weapons factory site.

11% increase in defense spending

News of Germany hitting its 2% spending target came as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised an “unprecedented” 11% increase in defense spending across the 31-nation alliance. I hope that this year 18 allied countries will spend 2% of their GDP on defence. This is another record number, Stoltenberg said during a pre-ministerial press conference in Brussels. He said this represents a six-fold increase compared to 2014 when only three partners met the target. Stoltenberg said NATO’s European states will invest a total of $380 billion in defense this year.

Eleven allies Poland, the US, Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, the UK and Slovakia are expected to meet the 2% target in 2023, according to NATO’s earlier projections. The invasion of Ukraine is a motivating factor. The increase in defense spending comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine approaches the 2-year mark. The conflict has led Western allies to increase spending on military aid, although there are concerns about continued funding for Ukraine’s defensive effort against Russia. The latest development regarding defense spending by NATO members comes after former US President Donald Trump’s comments at a campaign rally in South Carolina in which he said Russia could “do whatever it wants” to any NATO country. Could” which does not spend.