German govt won't make NATO defence budget goal legally binding

Germany's coalition government does not want to make a binding legal commitment to reaching NATO's target for military spending, sources close to the government told dpa on Friday.

The government deleted a provision requiring Germany to spend 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence from a draft of budget legislation at short notice ahead of key Cabinet decision, sources told dpa.

Several other German news outlets also reported the news earlier this week.

Resolutions by the NATO military alliance call on all members to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence, although Germany and many other Western European NATO members have long fallen short of that goal.

Instead, Germany's current coalition government pledged to hit the NATO defence spending target as an average over 5 years, meaning that the country could sometimes spend more or less than the 2% target.

Sources told dpa that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a Green Party member, requested the change.

Germany has not reached the 2% target since slashing defence spending at the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. The country has faced criticism from other NATO allies, particularly the United States, over its lower military budgets.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said recently that the German government would spend 2% of GDP on defence over the long term.

Scholz said the country would hit the goal by spending both regularly budgeted money and through a €100 billion special fund created to modernize Germany's military following Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.