Europe

Merkel pledges to boost defence spending amid criticism from U.S.

Published

6 years ago

June 28, 2018

Merkel pledges to boost defence spending amid criticism from U.S.

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has vowed to significantly boost defence spending amid criticism from the United States that it is not pulling its weight as a NATO member.

“Germany is committed to working towards meeting a NATO spending target of two per cent of gross domestic product,’’ Merkel said in a speech to lawmakers in Berlin on Thursday.

“This is a fundamental issue.

“I am firmly convinced, is about nothing more and nothing less than the future preservation of the trans-Atlantic alliance,’’ she said, in a nod to Washington, where President Donald Trump has repeatedly scolded her for not meeting the target.

The long-serving chancellor vowed to spend 1.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2024, a sum estimated by experts to be around 60 billion Euros (69.3 billion dollars).

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