"Completely absurd debate": NATO: Baerbock questions the two percent target

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

"Totally absurd debate"
NATO: Baerbock questions the two percent target

NATO member states should invest two percent of their gross domestic product in national defense. Germany is moving towards this goal with triple steps. It would be time to say goodbye to the rigid requirements, believes the Greens leader Baerbock

The Greens chairwoman Annalena Baerbock has questioned the NATO target for the level of the national defense spending of her member countries. "I consider this orientation to this two percent target to be a completely absurd debate," said Baerbock in a live interview with "Zeit". The background to this is an agreement from 2014. It provides that by 2024 all NATO member states should approach the benchmark of spending at least two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.

According to the latest public NATO calculations, German defense spending last year corresponded to a share of 1.57 percent – after 1.36 percent in the previous year. The increase is also due to the corona-related shrinkage of GDP. The US in particular is pushing the federal government to increase. Baerbock pointed out that it would be easier or more difficult for a country to achieve this goal, depending on the economy. In the middle of the current economic crisis, the federal government is spending significantly more, but nothing has changed in terms of equipment and capabilities.

Baerbock does not rule out the use of drones

It is more crucial to clarify what the alliance needs for its own security. NATO has discussed this too little in recent years. In an interview with the new US President Joe Biden, for example, she would offer that Germany could be more involved in dealing with cyber attacks. When asked whether Germany's obligations with a possible Chancellor Baerbock could no longer be relied on, the Green leader said that with a change of office, resolutions of a previous government could also be reversed. This was also the case in the USA after the election of former President Donald Trump.

Baerbock did not categorically reject the use of armed drones, on which the grand coalition has not yet been able to agree due to resistance from the SPD. Armed drones were used in wars by the United States, among other things, for illegal killings, and the war was automated. Under these circumstances, she rejects the technology. "But they could also be used to protect soldiers, defensively." For this purpose, clear application criteria would have to be laid down.