Germany calls on France to increase defence spending

"As European powers increasingly acknowledge they may be left on their own for their defence as the transatlantic relationship with the US president, Donald Trump, comes under strain, Johann Wadephul said Paris needed to put its money where its mouth was. He repeatedly and correctly refers to our pursuit of European sovereignty, Wadephul said of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with the German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. Anyone who talks about it needs to act accordingly in their own country."

"Nato member states pledged at a summit last June to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, but Wadephul said progress toward that goal had been falling short. Unfortunately, efforts in the French republic have also been insufficient to achieve this so far, he said. France, too, needs to do what we are doing here amid tough discussions. Germany last year exempted most defence expenditures from its constitutional debt brake and has earmarked more than 500bn for defence between 2025 and 2029."

France needs to boost defence spending to make European self-sufficiency a reality. European powers increasingly anticipate acting alone for defence amid strains in the transatlantic relationship with the US under President Donald Trump. NATO members pledged to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, but collective progress remains insufficient. French defence efforts have not met that benchmark so far. Germany has exempted most defence expenditures from its constitutional debt brake and earmarked more than 500bn for defence between 2025 and 2029. Franco-German tensions persist over pooled debt, a next-generation fighter jet, and an EU–South America trade deal.

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