Germany’s government on Wednesday walked back their plan to legally commit to meeting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) 2% military spending target on an annual basis, according to Reuters.
Germany walks back plan to meet NATO spending target on annual basis https://t.co/IoGu1J3T3L pic.twitter.com/yqiQSEFFW7
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 16, 2023
The clause regarding an annual spending target was deleted soon after the budget financing law was passed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s cabinet on Wednesday. Germany will adhere to its current pledge to meet the 2% target on average over a five-year period because of this change, Reuters noted. (RELATED: Germany Agrees To Pay $1.4 Billion To Holocaust Survivors Worldwide)
Scholz’s original pledge contained harsher wording than the revised version. Scholtz announced his original pledge on Feb. 27, 2022, three days after Russia invaded Ukraine. He described the invasion as a “Zeitenwende,” or a turning point in his speech, according to Reuters.
“From now on, we will invest more than 2% of the GDP into our defence year after year,” Scholz said in his speech at the time.
A spokesperson for the German government refused to remark on the specifics of the draft law, the outlet noted.
Berlin has faced criticism by NATO allies for not using 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on annual defense spending.
Only seven out of 31 NATO countries successfully spent 2% of their GDP on defense in 2022. The countries are Poland, the United States, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece and the United Kingdom, according to Check Your Fact. This number is expected to increase to 11 NATO members by 2023.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 23, 2022. President Joe Biden said in July that Ukraine should be allowed to join NATO “an hour and 20 minutes” after its war with Russia ends. There have long been debates concerning Ukraine’s admittance into NATO.