Germany Ready to Strengthen Its Role in NATO
Germany’s goal is to redefine the division of roles and responsibilities that reflect Germany’s and Europe’s economic and military potential, he said in Berlin before departing for Sweden, adding that ‘Germany accepts its leadership responsibilities.’
“We want a stronger NATO with a larger European role,” Wadephul said. “To achieve this, we want to pool our industrial capabilities through more intensive defence cooperation.”
He also added that Germany wants to reach the 5% NATO spending target and strengthen its defence capabilities as quickly as possible.
At the 2025 NATO summit, member states agreed to allocate at least 3.5% of GDP to defence spending, plus 1.5% for related sectors such as infrastructure, bringing the total target to 5% of GDP per year by 2035.
Lack of support for Ukraine
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he would present a ‘concrete proposal’ on how NATO can continue to strongly support Ukraine in defending freedom in Europe. On the other hand, he also sees that NATO could leverage Ukraine’s significant progress in defence industry.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that many member states have not provided sufficient financial support to Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion.
Speaking in Helsingborg, Sweden, Rutte added that aid to Ukraine ‘is not distributed evenly within NATO.’
“Only a number of countries are truly contributing far above their capacity to support Ukraine, including Sweden. Also Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway,” he said.
US criticism of NATO over the war in Iran
At the meeting in Helsingborg, ministers will not only discuss strengthening European defence, but also the war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to arrive in Sweden on Friday (22/05). On the way to the summit, he again criticised NATO for not backing the US war against Iran.
President Donald Trump “did not ask them to send fighter jets. But they refused to do anything,” Rubio told reporters. “We are very disappointed.”
Following recent critical remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump announced the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany.
Meanwhile, there is uncertainty over the plan to deploy thousands of troops to Poland, whether it will proceed as planned or not.