If the new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte plans to move towards three percent of gross domestic product (GDP), “then we will implement that,” Strack-Zimmermann continued. This year, for the first time, Germany is just about meeting NATO’s target of investing two percent of GDP in defense. However, NATO partners like Poland are demanding a significantly higher quota.
Before the traffic lights went out, Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) campaigned for significantly higher military spending. However, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), who was later dismissed, rejected this in the budget dispute – also because Pistorius wanted to loosen the debt brake.
Strack-Zimmermann said of her stance as an FDP politician that higher defense spending was “a question of prioritization.” “Anyone who has a budget of 450 billion euros a year, and therefore one of the strongest in Europe, can of course invest in defense without going into debt.”
The EU Parliament’s Committee on Security and Defense (Sede) will begin its work with the plenary session from January 20th, the day Trump is sworn in. It is now independent from the Foreign Affairs Committee for the first time. However, its powers are limited, as defense in the EU is predominantly a matter for the member states.
Strack-Zimmermann announced close cooperation with the new EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius. He is primarily responsible for defense industry cooperation and space.
