Germany plans to increase the defense budget by 10 billion Euros in 2024
Germany intends to increase its military budget during the next year, by up to 10 billion Euros (10.7 billion US dollars) to help finance the additional expenses resulting from the Russian war against Ukraine.
The German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is pressing for an increase in defense allocations in next year’s budget, bringing the total of these allocations to 60 billion Euros.
The German Finance Minister Christian Lindner agrees in principle with the idea that military spending should be increased, but is unlikely to agree to the full amount of extra money Pistorius wants.
A spokesman for the German Finance Ministry declined to comment on specific figures, and said that negotiations between ministries on the new budget were still ongoing.
At the same time, the new financial allocations will be in addition to the 100 billion Euro loan-financed budget announced by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz with the aim of financing the rebuilding of Germany’s military capabilities over the next few years, shortly after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The German Chancellor said the funding would enable Germany to comply with NATO rules requiring member states to allocate 2% of gross domestic product for military spending, which Germany has ignored for years.
However, the government began to reduce its military ambitions since then.
German officials say that Germany may again not be able to reach spending 2% of GDP on military purposes during the current year.
