Germany will increase its military’s readiness two years earlier than expected by bringing a combat-ready division into combat readiness, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht stated Tuesday. This was in response to Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine.
According to the draft text of the speech she was to give at the Atlantic Council think-tank in Washington, she stated that Germany would reach NATO’s planning goals faster than she had promised.
“We will have the combat-ready planned division of our army in 2025, two more years before the time.” Although Germany doesn’t have one combat-ready division of its army at the moment it did have 12 in the Cold War era.
Berlin had originally planned to have one combat-ready division by 2027, and three in total by 2032.
In a major policy shift, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged 100 billion euros ($111.15 million) to the Bundeswehr following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
This money will be used to increase the readiness of the German military, mainly by purchasing weapons and equipment that have been lacking so far.
Three days after the invasion, Berlin announced that it had purchased F-35 fighter planes from the United States. It also stated that it was planning to purchase a missile defence system. Scholz stated that Germany would increase its defence spending by more than 2% of its GDP.
Reporting by Sabine Siebold. Editing by Miranda Murray. William Maclean
Our Standards
Share this article:
EU Reporter publishes articles from a variety of outside sources which express a wide range of viewpoints. The positions taken in these articles are not necessarily those of EU Reporter.
