The NATO alliance is expected to set its members more demanding targets to counteract the rising Russian threat.
The targets aim to bolster the air-defense, long-range missile, and logistics capabilities of the member states, a European diplomat told Reuters on Friday.
At their Vilnius summit last year, NATO leaders signed off on the first major defense plans since the end of the Cold War, detailing how the alliance would respond to a Russian attack.
The move signified a fundamental shift—NATO had seen no need to draw up such plans for decades, as it fought smaller wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and felt certain that post-Soviet Russia no longer posed an existential threat.
Germany needs more troops to meet NATO commitments
The German weekly Spiegel reported on Friday that the new NATO requirements mean Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr, will need an extra 75,000 troops to fill additional allied corps, divisions, and brigades needed to implement the defense plans.
At the moment, the Bundeswehr has some 180,000 soldiers, falling short of the target of around 200,000 troops, and 80,000 civilian employees.
Calls for more troops could present another headache for the German government, which is grappling with how to finance a surge in defense spending since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has debated re-introducing some form of military service.
Defense spending has already become a pinch point for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-way coalition in discussions for next year’s budget.
At their Vilnius summit last year, NATO leaders signed off on the first major defense plans since the end of the Cold War, detailing how the alliance would respond to a Russian attack.
The move signified a fundamental shift—NATO had seen no need to draw up such plans for decades, as it fought smaller wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and felt certain that post-Soviet Russia no longer posed an existential threat.
Germany needs more troops to meet NATO commitments
The German weekly Spiegel reported on Friday that the new NATO requirements mean Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr, will need an extra 75,000 troops to fill additional allied corps, divisions, and brigades needed to implement the defense plans.
At the moment, the Bundeswehr has some 180,000 soldiers, falling short of the target of around 200,000 troops, and 80,000 civilian employees.
Calls for more troops could present another headache for the German government, which is grappling with how to finance a surge in defense spending since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has debated re-introducing some form of military service.
Defense spending has already become a pinch point for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-way coalition in discussions for next year’s budget.
Source: Reuters, TVP World
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