Germany: Committed to meeting NATO defense spending goals

Published May 23, 2017

Germany's defense minister says the country is committed to spending 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense in keeping with its pledge to NATO..

Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday that defense spending would be among the topics at a NATO meeting in Brussels later this week.

The U.S. and others long have called for NATO members to honor their financial commitments, a message that has intensified under President Donald Trump.

Von der Leyen said: "It's fully right that the burden should be fairly divided" and that Germany is increasing its defense budget accordingly. It currently spends about 1.2 percent of GDP on defense.

She noted that defense spending doesn't mean only supporting NATO, saying that Germany is also committed to European Union and United Nations missions.

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