German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has defended his country’s defence budget against renewed criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump as NATO leaders are due to gather in Ankara for a two-day summit on Tuesday.
“We’re looking at the numbers, and they are pointing up,” Wadephul told Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio.
Responding to demands from Trump, “who has repeatedly complained about unfair burden-sharing within the defence alliance, NATO allies committed last year to raise core defence spending from two to 3.5 per cent of national GDP by 2035.”
Wadephul said “Germany was on track to reach the 3.5 per cent mark by the end of the decade.”
“We are spending more than many of our partners. What Germany is doing is also being noticed in Washington,” he stressed.
Trump has continued to pressure allies, “branding their defence spending as ‘ridiculous’ just days before the summit, singling out Germany in particular.”