Germany to Raise Defense Spending Above 2% of GDP in Response to Ukraine War - WSJ
By: Bojan Pancevski (WSJ)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
BERLIN—Germany will boost military spending above 2% of GDP and create a strategic natural-gas reserve, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday, marking a significant shift in the country's defense and energy policies in reaction to Russia's war in Ukraine.
The measures, all of which had long been resisted by successive governments and will now be reflected in this year's budget, underline how profoundly Russia's attack on Ukraine is upending European politics after almost eight decades of nearly uninterrupted peace on the continent.
“We have to ask ourselves: What capacities does Putin’s Russia have? And which capacities do we need to counter his threats?” Mr. Scholz told parliament, gathered for an extraordinary session on Sunday. “It’s clear, we will need to invest a lot more in the security of our country to defend our freedom and our democracy.”
“Putin wants to establish a Russian empire…the question is…whether we can summon the strength to set boundaries to warmongers like Putin,” Mr. Scholz said.
For decades, Germany had managed to reconcile rising welfare expenditure with budget surpluses by constraining investment in defense and other areas, leading to what several high-ranking officers recently called a hollowing out of its armed forces.
Likewise, the country has resisted diversifying its energy resources, relying increasingly on cheap and plentiful Russian gas supplied in part through the controversial Nord Stream undersea pipeline running between the two countries. Germany now receives more than half of its gas from Russia.
Mr. Scholz said that he would immediately invest 100 billion euros, equivalent to $113 billion, in weaponry. Starting now, he added, Germany’s military spending would exceed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s spending target of 2% of GDP, a goal that none of his predecessors managed since the end of the Cold War and that Germany had pledged to reach by 2024 as part of its commitments to NATO.
He said the government would create strategic gas reserves and finance the building of two liquefied natural gas import terminals on the country’s northern coast.
Mr. Scholz also announced concrete arms-systems procurements including the decision to buy state-of-the-art drones from Israel and F-35 warplanes from the U.S., which he said would be used to amplify NATO’s nuclear deterrent against Russia.
Mr. Scholz’s emotional address, which broke with decades of policy decisions, drew heckling from some opposition politicians as well as thunderous applause from a majority of parliamentarians.
The day of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Feb. 24 , marked a turning point in history, Mr. Scholz said. “Russia’s President Putin has launched an offensive war with his invasion of Ukraine, and that means that the world will not be the same as before.”
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Remember when Trump repeatedly called for moves like this to guard against Russia, and the propaganda press and other Democrats pushed a narrative that this meant he was anti-NATO?
Germany has done a bit of a turn around and is showing leadership.
http:// hill.cm/CjdC3Pu
Good move but a little late
The big question is if the heroism of the Ukrainians bought them just enough time?
Hope so but .......
So much depends on how truly power hungry and crazy Putin is and how far he wants to go.
I hope he’s not as nuts as i think he is.
I don't think he's nuts. Maybe a relic of a bygone era.
I know what he is looking at. Some of the most sacred and important regions of Russia are no longer a part of Russia. It's not quite the country he grew up in. He wants to restore what he can. The Baltic states are a part of NATO and they are gone forever. Across from them is St Petersburg, the 4th most populous city in Europe and the second largest city in Russia. Now a part of Russia's border zone. Let's face it, a lot of the best part of the country is now gone. That's his perspective.
For us this tragedy has yet to play out. If Ukraine survives the next few days a lot of things will change.
Well, IMO he’s a full fledged megalomaniac who just happens to have parlayed that into becoming one of the richest people in the world.
He's that too!
This may be his downfall. His next move is crucial and it must come soon.
Majority of Americans say Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump were president
https:// trib.al/8eLqBye
It seems that only the left denies the obvious.
Lol, a majority of Americans are idiots. No idea what gave them the idea that Trump would resist anything Putin says or does. Putin was always going to invade the Ukraine, my guess is he waited until now because he wasn't ready until now. Successful invasions aren't something that can be prepared overnight, especially if you want to create the illusion for your people (if no one else) that you are not actually the aggressor.
If Putin though the American people would be divided on this issue, he was wrong!
Lol ..... so it took him years since the last one to prepare? That’s the story you want to stick with?
Ridiculous!
Yes. Again, these thing take time to prepare.
Nah ..... weeks, months maybe but not years. Not even if they weren’t land mass neighbors.
Years to prepare is simply preposterous for a military power like Russia.
Lol ,Russia is a military power? Aside from nukes, in what universe is Russia a military power?
Yes, it took him time to preapare the invasion.
Lol .... really?
Last I checked they rank near the top in the world, usually second right behind the US.
You really need to work on your current events knowledge there bud.
Nah, not years but you keep telling yourself that.
There are a lot of people that cannot reason past their Trump Hate... Everything they say is colored by it...
You do know that they are going to play many narratives into the invasion of Ukraine. Many are hoping this will resurrect Joe Biden's original good will.
TDS is a very real, clear and present danger to the union.
No doubt about it.
Opinion doesn't equate to proof and, frankly, I don't really get why any reasoning person would waste time on this. Trump is neither President nor can the past be changed or proven to have had a different result "if only..."
The only factual thing that can be said is Putin didn't pull anything like this while Trump was President. That's it. It doesn't say anything about Putin being afraid of what Trump might do because that would mean we know what was going on in Putin's head for those four years. For all any of us know, Putin saw advantage in what Trump was doing because he felt it benefitted himself in some way. Or maybe Putin thought Trump was too unpredictable to make any serious moves. Or perhaps Putin was focused on securing his own position more thoroughly within Russia. Only Putin could tell us.
It seems to me insisting that the invasion of Ukraine not happening if Trump was President is simply a belief by people who like Trump to use as a baseless conviction. Worse, as if it is actual evidence of something. It isn't. And I voted for Trump in 2020.
Well, you see, the radical left in this country is bothered by the fact that these dictators only got out of line when lefties were in the White House.
Honestly, I doubt the radical left could even entertain such a thought. They are too convinced of their own infallibility.
Look at the seeds & articles over the past week. It bothers them!
I think you misunderstand me. I don't think they think of it in terms of this only happening because the Dems are in power. What bothers them is people saying that it was true. There isn't necessarily a connection. That is, you can't causally prove that because Dems are in power, Putin attacked. Not beyond opinion anyway. That's why they are upset.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has turned down an offer from the United States of evacuation from the capital city Kyiv, the Ukraine embassy in Britain said Saturday on Twitter.
