Germany: Minister Calls Trump Demand On NATO Spending ‘Unrealistic’

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(RFE/RL) — Germany’s foreign minister questioned U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls for all NATO members to increase their defense spending to the alliance’s target of 2 percent of economic output, calling that “unrealistic” for Berlin.

Sigmar Gabriel, on a visit to Estonia on March 1, said that while Germany accepts that it must increase its defense spending from today’s 1.2 percent ratio, it would be “completely unrealistic” to expect Berlin to go as high as 2 percent.

“Germany needs to do more, no question about it,” he said, but it is “completely unrealistic to raise expectations in Germany or among our partners that we will add 30 billion euros to our defense spending over the next eight years.”

Germany has set a more modest goal of increasing spending by 2 billion euros to 37 billion euros this year, with the goal of reaching 39.2 billion euros by 2020.

Gabriel questioned whether NATO members outside the United States would like to see a massive surge in military spending by Berlin, in any case.

“We also have to consider whether Europe wants a Germany that invests 60 billion euros a year in the German army… This would be military supremacy in Europe, and I think our neighbors would not like to see that.”

Trump in an address to Congress on February 28 repeated his demand that NATO allies “meet their financial obligations,” and expressed satisfaction that many NATO members have moved to comply with his wishes by increasing spending.

“I think it is correct that Europe accepts that those times when the U.S. took on the primary burden of our defense are behind us,” Gabriel said. “Europe’s GDP is the same as that of the U.S. So there is no reason to demand more of the U.S. than of Europe.”

But he noted that NATO’s 2 percent target is not legally binding on members. “There is no apodictic 2 percent goal, but rather…we should be moving in that direction,” he said.

Moreover, he said, higher military spending will not solve all of today’s global problems.

“Most wars and developments in the refugee crisis that we are currently facing can’t be solved with more spending on equipment but with protecting people from famine, poverty, and war,” he said.

Gabriel’s comments highlighted a rift within Germany’s ruling coalition, which faces elections in September.

While Gabriel, a center-left Social Democrat, openly questioned the pressure European members of NATO are getting from the Trump White House, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, both conservatives, have said it is Germany’s duty to reach the 2 percent target, though they have proposed much lower spending in the near term.

So far, of the 28 NATO member countries, only the United States, Britain, Poland, Greece and Estonia have met the two percent target.

RFE RL

RFE/RL journalists report the news in 21 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established.

2 thoughts on “Germany: Minister Calls Trump Demand On NATO Spending ‘Unrealistic’

  • March 3, 2017 at 11:56 am
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    The juxtaposition of this German discussion with the Swedish resumption of conscription seems to indicate that the comfort of the many is more important than the lives of a few.

    Reply
  • March 4, 2017 at 12:53 am
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    Under Obama the response would have been, that’s okay US will pick it half – or all – for you. And we need not tell anyone.
    Under Trump, may they be told, if you Germany cannot find the money, then US will decrease it’s payment also by 2% for each and every nation that like you Germany whines exceptionalism.

    Reply

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