Merkel reaffirms Germany's commitment to increase defense spending
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made assurances that the government will fulfill its obligations to increase defense spending until 2024 to the NATO target of 2% of GDP each year.
She stated this in interviews with the German television channel Phoenix and the radio station Deutschlandfunk, Deutsche Welle reports.
At the same time, she refuted accusations from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) that the increase in defense spending would come from a reduction in social programs.
"That will not lead to any social expenditure being cut," Merkel noted.
The Chancellor also criticized the behavior of the SPD, which dismisses the need to increase the defense budget, recalling that the government coalition, which includes the SPD, also assumed the obligation.
Germany's defense budget in 2016 amounted to 34.3 billion euros, equal to about 1.2% of the country's GDP. In the current year, Germany will increase defense spending by 8%.
Leading representatives of the SPD have criticized this commitment. In particular, Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel expressed doubts as to whether it is expedient for Germany to raise its defense budget to such a level, calling this goal "completely unrealistic." The Social Democrats’ candidate for Chancellor, Martin Schulz, has campaigned against the near doubling of the defense budget.