In the coming year, the Federal Republic of NATO is expected to report for the first time defense spending of more than 50 billion euros. For 2020, investments worth € 50.36 billion are expected for the Alliance, the news agency dpa learned from NATO circles in Brussels. This was confirmed by military circles in Berlin.
The amount of € 50.36 billion corresponds to an increase of approximately 6.4 per cent, compared to the expenditure of € 47.32 billion most recently adopted for the current year. In May, expenditure of less than 50 billion euros had been estimated for 2020.
Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) has made several calls since its inauguration for significantly higher defense expenditures, which are mainly being pushed by the US government under President Donald Trump. By 2024, Germany was targeting defense spending of 1.5 percent of GDP, and by 2031 NATO's two percent target, she said last week.
This is how defense spending at NATO is calculated
Defense spending as defined by the NATO definition includes, in addition to resources from the defense budget itself, expenditure on peacemaking and peacekeeping operations from the Foreign Office budget and some other items.
In the past, for example, costs for the stay of foreign forces on German soil or disarmament projects were mentioned. The figures in NATO are therefore higher than the amount that is usually used in the domestic debate.
