29.07.2024, Berlin.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has been allocated more budgetary funds than any of his predecessors, and he should not claim more, German Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner told German television channel ARD on July 29.
“We have reached the 2% target for NATO for the first time in many, many years. In the coming years, at least 2% of GDP will continue to be allocated to security needs. Mr. Pistorius has a special program to modernize the armed forces for 100 billion euros, which none of his predecessors had,” the finance minister said.
Lindner stressed that the issue at stake is taxpayers’ money and efficiency in the allocation of funds, which means the re-thinking is required, as not everything the defense minister says is “automatically justified and correct.”
Earlier, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the funds allocated for the country’s defense next year are too small considering possible threats to Germany. According to him, the draft budget approved by the federal cabinet provides for an increase in the defense budget by 1.25 billion euros from the current level of 52 billion euros, but the defense ministry needs much more “given the all too real threat posed by Russia.”
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
