Scholz defends military spending in budget, promises €80bn by 2028

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised that spending on the German armed forces will be maintained, after the terms of a preliminary 2025 budget deal agreed on Friday showed a modest increase for the Bundeswehr.

Scholz said that the Bundeswehr's regular budget would reach €80 billion ($87 billion) after 2028, when the emergency €100 billion special fund for the armed forces - agreed in the aftermath of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - is spent.

The chancellor said the €80-billion figure would ensure Germany reaches the NATO threshold of spending 2% of GDP on defence.

The Bundeswehr's current regular budget stands at €52 billion. The new budget deal, which Scholz reached along with Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner, has proposed a €1.2-billion increase for the Bundeswehr, far below the €6 billion rise demanded by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.

Scholz defended the deal in Berlin on Friday morning, saying: "It is about a strong defence, a strong Bundeswehr that offers protection against the aggressive rulers of our time."