Increase in defense spending: Pentagon praises Germany in front of the US Congress

dpa | The US Department of Defense has explicitly acknowledged Germany's efforts to increase defense spending before the US Congress. NATO allies such as Germany have taken credible steps to fulfill their commitments from the defense alliance's summit in The Hague well ahead of the 2035 deadline, according to a statement from Elbridge Colby, Undersecretary of State at the Pentagon, to the US Senate Armed Services Committee.

Under the impression of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and at the urging of US President Donald Trump, NATO agreed at the NATO summit in The Hague last year to invest at least 3.5 percent of gross domestic product in defense in the future. An additional 1.5 percent should then be added for defense-related expenses, such as infrastructure.

Overall, five percent of GDP should be invested in defense and security every year from 2035 at the latest - more than ever since the Cold War. Germany wants to achieve the five percent target by 2029.

Germany was also mentioned by name as a model example with a view to closer cooperation in arms production. Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) and US Defense Minister Pete Hegseth signed a declaration of intent on increased cooperation in the middle of this month.

It is not the first time that Colby has spoken positively about Germany. In August, at NATO headquarters, he praised Germany as a model for other allies. What the Federal Republic has initiated in the past 18 months is “an extraordinary tectonic shift,” a “historic change,” he explained. Germany had moved from extensive demilitarization to rapid rearmament.