Ursula von der Leyen was speaking ahead of next week’s Nato summit, which is widely expected to feature blunt attacks from US president Donald Trump on Germany and other countries whose defence budgets fall below 2 per cent of GDP.
Ms von der Leyen said Germany remained committed to the goal, but insisted that Berlin’s contribution to the alliance should not be judged on its budget alone.
“You can easily spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence without actually offering anything to Nato,” she said in Berlin on Tuesday evening.“The question for Nato is not just how much you spend nationally on defence, but how much does the country provide in terms of contributions that Nato needs.”
Nato, she said, was not just about “cash” — but also about “capabilities” and “contributions”.
Germany, Ms von der Leyen stressed, was the second-largest supplier of troops to Nato behind the US, as well as the second-largest supplier of troops in Afghanistan.
The minister also pointed to the prominent role of the German Bundeswehr in Nato’s push to bolster the security of member states in eastern Europe.
To be clear: we stand by the 2 per cent goal that we set ourselves in Wales. We are on the way to meeting it. And we are ready, and have shown that we are ready, to take on substantial responsibilities inside the alliance,” the minister said.
That was the target set by Nato leaders at a meeting in Wales four years ago and which Berlin has made clear it will not be able to meet in the foreseeable future.
Official figures show that Germany has indeed raised its defence budget notably in recent years, but it remains far short of the 2 per cent goal and looks certain to fall short for many more years to come.
Last year, the military absorbed just 1.2 per cent of GDP. Under current plans, that share is set to rise to 1.5 per cent in 2024.
The comparatively low German defence budget has long been a source of dismay for Berlin’s Nato allies, and the US in particular.
