Germany walks back plan to meet NATO spending target on annual basis

The German government has retreated from a plan to legally commit itself to meeting NATO's 2% military spending target on an annual basis, a government source told Reuters on Wednesday, Report informs.

A corresponding clause in a draft of the budget financing law passed by the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday was deleted at short notice, the source said.

The change means that Germany will be able to stick to its current pledge of meeting the 2% target on average over a five-year period.

This wording is softer than Scholz's original pledge in a speech on Feb 27, 2022, in which he announced a "Zeitenwende" or sea change three days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"From now on, we will invest more than 2% of the GDP into our defense year after year," Scholz said at the time.

A German government spokesperson declined to comment on the particulars of the draft law.

NATO allies have criticized Berlin strongly in the past for not spending 2% of its gross domestic product on defense annually.