Germany will reach a NATO defense spending target by 2031, its defense minister said, missing a 2024 deadline agreed by the allies who are under heavy U.S. pressure to beef up their military budgets.
Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said
Germany would spend 2% of its economic output on defense by 2031, belatedly reaching the goal set by NATO leaders at a 2014 summit, months after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.
"NATO is and will remain the anchor of European security.