German military spending slows under new budget deal

German military spending is set to increase by only €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) under the terms of the preliminary 2025 national budget agreed on Friday, far below the demands of Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.

The leaders of Germany's coalition government reached a breakthrough on the national budget after weeks of difficult negotiations culminated in consultations throughout the night on Thursday.

With Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) refusing to release the country's debt brake on government expenditure, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) ruling out cuts to welfare spending, Germany's armed forces appear to have lost out, just two years after Scholz announced a historic rearmament programme.

Speaking in May on a visit to the United States, Pistorius had spoken of an "additional requirement of €6.5 billion to €7.5 billion for the coming year," only rising in the subsequent years. He has warned of an impending "armaments stop" after the emergency €100 billion fund for the Bundeswehr agreed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 is spent by 2028.

The current budget for the Bundeswehr stands at €52 billion.