PoliticsTechWar EU international locations plan to extend protection spending; Germany is assured that US assist to Ukraine is not going to lower. Monday, January 20, 2025

German Protection Minister Boris Pistorius has referred to as for a rise in protection spending by at the least €30B. “After the particular fund is exhausted, we are going to want at the least €85B from 2028,” he stated. Final yr, Germany’s protection price range included about €52B, supplemented by cash from a particular fund for the modernization of the Bundeswehr. In whole, this represents about 2% of the nation’s GDP. The protection minister says that now it’s higher to speak about spending 3% of GDP protection spending, which is greater than €120B at the moment. In flip, the Lithuanian authorities has determined to extend protection spending to 5-6% of GDP from 2026, which might set up it because the nation that spends essentially the most on protection as a proportion of GDP amongst NATO members. At the moment, the federal government spends somewhat greater than 3% of its GDP on protection. Poland at the moment spends essentially the most on protection amongst all NATO international locations as a proportion of GDP; this yr, Poland’s protection spending will attain about 5% of GDP. In the meantime, the German chancellor stated he doesn’t anticipate a US navy assist discount to Ukraine after Trump’s inauguration.