Germany backtracks on defense spending promises made after Ukraine invasion
Days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to meet long ignored military spending targets of 2 percent of GDP.
BY HANS VON DER BURCHARD AND GABRIEL RINALDI
DECEMBER 5, 2022 4:54 PM CET

BERLIN — Germany on Monday walked back its promise to swiftly raise defense spending to at least 2 percent of its economic output — breaching the key commitment made days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to become a more serious military force.

Berlin also sought to play down internal warnings about delays to a flagship procurement of new fighter jets.

During a government press conference, Chief Spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit scaled down expectations for Germany’s defense spending, telling journalists that the 2 percent target would be missed not only this year, but also likely next year: “It’s still open whether that [goal] will be achieved” in 2023, Hebestreit said, adding that his “cautious expectation” was that Germany would still meet the target within this legislative period, which ends in 2025.

ROME – As the Ukraine war grinds on, Italy is renewing its vow to meet a NATO spending target of two percent of gross domestic product but has confirmed it will delay it by four years amid a domestic political row over budgets.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Thursday Italy would boost spending from the current 1.4 percent of GDP to hit the target by 2028, rather than the 2024 deadline NATO members agreed to meet in 2014.
By confirming the date had been pushed back, Draghi appeared to solve a row with a member of his ruling coalition, the Five Star party, which threatened to oppose a pending parliamentary vote on the matter over concerns the cash would be better used on social programs.The spat prompted commentators to predict a possible collapse of the government, until Draghi announced 2028 was now the confirmed date, adding that 2024 had been only “an indication, not an objective.”

How the Netherlands Is Spending Billions More on Defense

Soldiers get a raise, the Air Force six F-35s and four Reaper drones.
Nick OttensJune 5, 2022

The Dutch government is raising defense spending to nearly €20 billion in order to meet NATO’s 2-percent target.

The ruling four-party coalition (which includes my own liberal party) increased military spending from €12 to €14 billion prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is adding another €15 billion over the next three years, which should be enough to reach 2 percent of GDP by the time of the next election in 2025.


Start with personnel. The Dutch military employs some 41,000 soldiers and 27,000 civilians. There are almost 9,000 job openings.

In 1990, the country had 57,000 professional soldiers and 46,000 conscripts. The draft was abolished in 1997.

The average military salary is €3,800 per month, which is higher than the national median wage. But young soldiers are underpaid. They make less than minimum wage, which at least partly explains the high number of vacancies.

All wages will rise by 8.5 percent with a bonus for the lowest-paid. Their wages should go up by as much as 20 percent.

In addition, the army will stock up on ammunitions, fuel and gear.

Not enough weapons

The Dutch armed forces lost the bulk of their heavy equipment in two rounds of cuts, one after the Cold War and another during the Great Recession.

The Netherlands used to have more than 900 tanks. It sold all but eighteen, and they are part of a joint Dutch-German tank battalion.

At its peak, the Netherlands operated 213 F-16 fighter jets. 68 remain, and they are being phased out in favor of the F-35. Because the new jet is more expensive, the Netherlands is buying fewer.

Three out of four artillery brigades have been cut. The Dutch Navy sold eight of its sixteen frigates.

The lack of matériel is so dire that the military admits it can no longer defend Dutch territory, including in the Caribbean. More out of necessity than by choice, it has specialized in peacekeeping, but after taxing operations in the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan it can barely manage those anymore either. The Dutch Court of Auditors reported in 2018 that soldiers deployed to Mali had to “improvise” to make up for lack of equipment.

Dedonder visiting the Beauvechain Military Air Base in Wallonia. Credit images: Belga Ludivine Dedonder is used to being called ‘The General’ at home and, given her job as Belgium’s Defence Minister, it seems appropriate. And she insists she is up to the job at hand, whether being a mother or a minister. “Life has taught me that people who work hard and believe in themselves can achieve anything they want,” she says. “My parents taught me to study and work hard, and it has paid off.”

As a former TV anchor who has followed a well-trodden path in Belgium of journalists moving into politics, Dedonder has swapped a TV ratings war for the real thing. Top of her to-do list is ensuring Belgium rebuilds its defence.

But chatting over coffee at Brussels’ grand Egmont Palace, a neoclassical pile which, today houses the Belgian defence ministry, she is relaxed about the challenge. “One does not have to be in the military to be a good Defence Minister,” she says. “I have a view from outside the defence world, so I bring a new approach which can help me to see things from other perspectives. It helps to get things moving and get things done.”

Appointed by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo a year ago, her responsibilities include issues not normally associated with the military, such as floods and health pandemics.

Dedonder’s current tenure at the Defence Ministry comes at a critical time, as the conflict in Ukraine has brought war back to Europe, even raising the spectre of nuclear war.


When pressed on this, Dedonder blames her predecessors. “The previous government had not done that,” she says, before emphasising that. “We’ve turned that page and started reinvesting in our armed forces, in personnel, investments, equipment and infrastructure.”

For some, including Belgian defence expert Wannes Verstraete from Egmont, the Royal Institute for International Relations, this is a “step in the right direction” yet still “insufficient if Belgium wants to credibly contribute to collective defence.”

But Dedonder says the important thing is “not to spend more but to spend better.” The Belgian army is, she says, “widely appreciated” for its high operational output on land, sea and air. In late October, she launched a new cyber command centre, “an important step to be able to face the current hybrid threats.”

She accepts Belgium is a small country and its armed forces are not built to operate on large theatres all alone. That, she adds, is why Belgium mostly operates within European, NATO or United Nations framework operations – although its navy collaborates with the Netherlands and the army with France.

More Belgians in boots

Dedonder stresses that rebuilding Belgium’s defence starts with the actual personnel. For the first time since 1993, when conscription ended, Belgium’s armed forces will be expanded, from its current 25,000 to 29,000 by 2030 (by comparison, conscripts aside, the force counted 45,000 career soldiers in 1993).


Belgian soldiers boarding a transporter plane



The budget will grow from today’s €4.7 billion to €6.9 billion in 2030 and more than €10.4 billion in 2035 – when Belgium will reach the NATO two percent target. Even so, this needs to be done in a way to be sure Belgium’s defence has “time to evolve and grow to be able to use this money in a good and responsible way.”

Several plans are now in place, including building two new military bases and cancelling planned closures of other bases while keeping them decentralised. “People want to work more closely to their homes and to spend more time with their friends and family,” she says. “By decentralising and continuing investment in existing facilities, we will make sure we can offer workplaces at an acceptable distance from home