According to a study, the federal government cannot keep the promise made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to achieve NATO's two percent spending target for defense in the future.
As the "Rheinische Post" (Monday edition) reports, a study by the German Economic Institute (IW) for the years 2022 and 2023 in the defense budget shows "a gap of just under 18 billion euros".
Despite the special fund of 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr, the goal of spending two percent of annual economic output on defense cannot be achieved.
According to the study, in the following years up to 2026, the NATO target will only almost be achieved, but not exceeded.
Increase by 2026 at the latest
From 2027, however, the corresponding financing is completely unclear.
If the special fund is used up by then and the defense budget is not increased, there will be "a gap of around 35 billion euros".
According to the "Rheinische Post", the IW is calling for significantly higher defense spending in this context.
"By 2026 at the latest" a "regular defense budget increased by a good 60 percent" must be made available to meet the two percent target.
Without a "consolidation" of spending, the defense industry "could not adjust to future requirements".