Germany will increase its defense budget to a record amount next year, helping Europe’s biggest economy meet a NATO target of spending at least 2% of output annually on the military.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will be allocated €51.8 billion ($56.4 billion) in his regular budget, €1.7 billion more than this year, according to the 2024 federal financing plan distributed Monday by the government in Berlin.
An additional €19.2 billion from a special fund set up immediately after Russia invaded Ukraine will lift total military investment to €71 billion, hitting the NATO goal, the plan showed.