"We will spend, on average, about 70 to 80 billion euros annually for defense purposes in the coming years. And then Germany will become the country that invests the most [in defense]," Scholz told German public broadcaster ARD.
The official noted that within the framework of NATO, Germany is on par with the US already making the largest contribution in Europe.
At the moment, the federal parliament (Bundestag) and the federal council (Bundesrat) have already supported by a majority of votes Scholz’s February initiative to create a special fund for the Bundeswehr for 100 billion euros. Thus, Germany’s armed forces can be considered Europe’s largest regular army.
The Spanish capital city of Madrid is hosting the NATO leaders' summit from June 28–30. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said prior to the summit that allies planned to endorse a new strategic concept that will refer to Russia as the "most significant and direct threat" to the allied security. The members will also consider the possibility of further increasing the number of military units deployed on the eastern flank of the alliance.
Moscow has always regarded NATO's actions close to its borders as confrontational and aggressive and has been a consistent critic of the alliance's expansion following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in April that the alliance's enlargement had nothing to do with the fulfillment of statutory goals and was geared toward strengthening and perpetuating a unipolar world.