Germany achieves NATO military spending goal for the first time since the Cold War

For the first time since the early 1990s, Germany has met NATO's goal of spending 2% of its Gross Domestic Product on defense, with expenditures sharply increasing following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to a spokesperson for the country's Ministry of Defense, as quoted by Reuters.

The German government will allocate 71.8 billion euros for defense spending in 2024 through regular and special budget appropriations. However, the total amount of defense spending is classified.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also stated that 18 countries will reach the target indicator of 2%. Today, a meeting of the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine will take place in the Ramstein format, organized by the USA. NATO defense ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday.

The German government has highlighted the increase in defense spending in an undefined time for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the agency added.

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