Germany Plans Strongest European Conventional Army, Raise Defense Spending to 5% of GDP by 2035

German Ambassador to the United States Jens Hanefeld told Fox News Digital that Germany is ready to assume greater responsibility for European security and will increase defense spending to 5% of GDP well before the 2035 deadline set at the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has stated that Germany’s armed forces should become the strongest conventional army in Europe, a goal Hanefeld said is backed by Berlin’s new military strategy. Hanefeld said Russia’s illegal war of aggression has shaken old certainties in Europe.

U.S. defense companies for fighter jets, transport helicopters, air defense systems and ammunition. Germany plans to recruit almost 100,000 new active-duty soldiers into the Bundeswehr.

A permanent German brigade of around 5,000 military and civilian personnel in Lithuania is expected to become fully operational for NATO’s eastern flank defense in the Baltic region within three years, the Bundeswehr stated. The effort comes amid public friction between President Donald Trump and Merz.

Merz criticized Washington’s handling of the Iran war, saying the United States was being humiliated by Iran’s leadership in negotiations.

U.S. troop reductions in Germany. Merz stated he would not advise his children to live, study or work in the United States today.

Retired Rear Adm. U.S. moves may delay or cancel a rotational deployment of long-range strike systems to Germany that would have included Tomahawk, SM-6 or Precision Strike Missile capabilities.

Reuters reported in May that Germany’s defense ministry said there had been no definitive cancellation of the long-range strike deployment. U.S. involvement.