German defense minister pushing for ‘drastic’ budget hike – Reuters

Boris Pistorius reportedly wants €60 billion allocated for the armed forces this year

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is seeking a major hike to the country’s military budget effective this year, Reuters has reported, citing sources.

Pistorius, the only minister to retain his role under Chancellor Friedrich Merz's new government, has previously claimed that Russia may attack a NATO country and that Germany “must be ready for war by 2029.”

Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the claims as “utter nonsense.”

Pistorius, according to a Reuters source, hopes for a “drastic increase” to over €60 billion ($68.21 billion) for the military in 2025, up from €51.8 billion in 2024.

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In an interview in December, he proposed an annual defense budget of up to €90 billion ($102 billion) “from 2028 onwards… due to the tightened security situation.”

Total German military expenditure in 2024 actually amounted to up to €90 billion ($88 billion), the first time Berlin has met its NATO spending target.

European NATO members have been under increasing pressure from the US to boost military spending. In March, the European Commission proposed a €800 billion plan to militarize the bloc.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told Pistorius in April that Washington wants “European allies to assume primary responsibility” for their security and urged his counterpart to “actualize defense spending increases.”

New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, announced a new package of armored vehicles, air-defense rockets, and howitzers for Keiv last month.

Merz also suggested he could approve delivery of long-range Taurus missiles to the Ukrainian army, a move resisted by former Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for fear of escalating the conflict.

Moscow has warned that any cruise missile attack on Russian facilities or critical transport infrastructure with the assistance of the German armed forces would be seen as the country’s direct involvement in military operations.

READ MORE: Germany announces new military aid package for Ukraine

The ongoing militarization of the EU amounts to an “incitement of war on the European continent,” according to Moscow. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recently said the bloc “has degraded into an openly militarized entity and become de facto a branch of NATO.”