Will anyone ever trust Germany again?

EU’s “Dad’s Army” is set to continue as Germans once again retreat from the battlefield

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2023

Scholz breaks promise repeated only last month, with abrupt u-turn on key NATO commitment

Late last week it was revealed that the German government is suddenly abandoning its much publicised pledge finally to meet NATO’s minimum spending commitment on defence. While countries such as Poland are now stepping up and dramatically increasing their defence expenditure, the Germans are abruptly in full retreat.

With tanks that can’t be driven and fighter jets that can’t get off the ground, will we now see a repeat episode of the German soldiers who turned up for a NATO exercise with broom handles for rifles?

Facts4EU.Org presents a reminder of why the EU’s “Dad’s Army” is set to stay that way, despite the empire’s ambitions to replace NATO.

Germany’s dire underspend on defence

Here is what the German Chancellor promised last year and this year.

“From now on, we will invest more than 2% of GDP into our defence year after year.”
- Chancellor Scholz, February 2022

He renewed this promise after last month’s (July) NATO summit in Vilnius.

“In its National Security Strategy, Germany has committed to spending an average of at least 2% of GDP on defence.”
- German Federal Foreign Office, July 2023

“Just how much do EU countries like Germany owe,
for what they have failed to spend on defence?”

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Military expenditure by EU countries 2015-2022, compared with the UK, in £'s billions

Compared to what they should have spent based on the NATO minimum of 2% of GDP

UK : £24.1
Greece : £10.5
Poland : £4.6
Estonia : £0.2
Latvia : -£0.3
Lithuania : -£0.4
Croatia : -£0.9
Bulgaria : -£1.2
Slovenia : -£3.0
Slovakia : -£3.1
Romania : -£3.0
Luxembourg : -£6.5
Hungary : -£6.2
Portugal : -£8.7
Czechia : -£11.1
Denmark : -£15.8
France : -£25.3
Belgium : -£32.6
Netherlands : -£37.1
Italy : -£83.4
Spain : -£86.9
Germany : -£152.2

TOTAL EU UNDERSPEND : £478bn

[Source: NATO defence expenditure data released 21 Mar 2023. Dollars converted into pounds at £1=$1.223, per Bloomberg 25 Mar 2023.]

Since the 2014 NATO Summit the UK has been the only reliable European military power

In September 2014 at the Summit held in Wales, the NATO leaders agreed to a declaration in response to Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion and annexation of Crimea – part of the sovereign territory of Ukraine.

At that important Summit it was agreed that all NATO member countries should spend a minimum of 2% of GDP on defence and that 20% of the defence expenditure should be on equipment.

The United Kingdom is the only country in Europe to have met both targets consistently since then.

The UK’s Rejoiners and ‘Globalists’ have received over £3m in foreign funding

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Germany has had eight years to hit the NATO target – what has it done?

In the eight years from 2015-2022 Germany has underspent on defence by $186.1bn, (approx £152.2bn GBP), according to the NATO figures analysed by Brexit Facts4EU.Org.

We arrived at this figure by taking NATO’s official percentages of what each country spends on defence and multiplying this by each country’s GDP. We then compared this with what they should have spent if – like the UK – they were spending the NATO minimum target of 2% of their GDP.

Even France – the second-largest military power in Europe after the UK – has underspent by more than £25bn pounds. Meanwhile the UK’s extra defence spend now stands at over £24bn.

Despite all of this, the EU continues to have pretensions to being a major military power

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

The European Defence Union is official EU policy

Even the EU now calls it “the European Army”

There is no longer any pretence from the EU – they are preparing their own army. This is no longer hidden.

Coat of arms,
EU Military Staff

“It took us a few weeks. And we decided it together, still at 28, and we did it.... Over this past year our common [EU] defence has advanced more than in the previous 60 years.”

- Federica Mogherini, EU Commission Vice-President & de facto Defence & Foreign Secretary, Jun 2017

“The first missions under EU flag were launched already back in 2003. Since then, 34 EU missions have operated on three continents.”

- EU’s ‘European External Action Service’, 24 Aug 2018

Angela Merkel

“We need to be ready to redefine our decision-making and sometimes to waive unanimity... We need to create a European Security Council… We need to create a European Deployment Force with which Europe can act quickly… We should work on the vision one day to create a true European Army... Jean-Claude Juncker said it four years ago: ‘A common European army’ ”

- German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speech to EU Parliament, 13 Nov 2018

New EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

“Europe is forming an army. A united EU military is becoming a reality.”

– Ursula von der Leyen, former German Defence Minister and new EU Commission President, in her own article in the German press, 10 Jan 2019

Observations

It has always been Facts4EU’s position that the UK’s defence spending should be doubled. We need another 50,000 soldiers, several dozen more warships, and twice the number of fighter jets, tankers and bombers. That said, at least the UK has been the only country in decades bar Greece to adhere to NATO’s spending minimum of at least 2% of GDP on defence.

For those who may not be aware, Greece has been an outlier because of its historical disputes with its neighbour, Turkey, and it has kept the German armaments industry going with the amount of equipment if has bought from that country.

To a great fanfare, the new German government of Olaf Scholz announced a major investment in its armed forces, after decades of under-spending. However at a stroke on Wednesday last week we learnt that the Chancellor’s pledge to spend the minimum 2% of GDP this year was dropped at the last minute from Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s budget plan to be put before the Bundestag.

Above we have shown Germany’s chronic under-investment in defence over many years. We might want the UK government to increase its defence spending, but Germany's has been lamentable - and looks set to stay that way.

We must get reports like this out there

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[ Sources: NATO | German Federal Government | EU Commission | Reuters ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat 19 Aug 2023

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Reader Comments 8

1. Ashley Great Britain , Saturday, August 19, 2023, 07:42:

And the blob and hostile commentators are constantly putting the UK down, They say we don't follow the rules or we break international law.
It's plain to see that Germany is in a spot of bother and they are making decisions to look after their selves before responsibility and commitment.
All the while the UK has been paying for everything by a transference of wealth to countries like Germany.The UK is still committed to paying the EU vast quantities for nothing, like paying France to send us illigal migrants, The divorce bill, under the table payments for EU programs and defence. Not to mention everything else the UK pays in relation to Europe like helping Ukraine.
Germany is like a spoilt brother being looked after and supported while thinking he is actually top dog.
It's easy to see why our nation is falling apart, We have been hemorrhaging money all over the place for decades because of bad leadership and hidden agendas.
It's a wonder we're able to hang on at all. In years gone by there were only a few issues that needed resolving and things were manageable, Now everywhere you look there's trouble. Roads, Crime, Drugs, NHS, Schools, Immigration, Universities, Infrastructure, Law courts, The list of big problems is vast.
All of this has crept in for many years, Way before the referendum, And the EU and Germany have a big part to play in our misfortunes.

2. Stephen Jenner , Saturday, August 19, 2023, 07:48:

I suppose that making that Ursula woman. president of the EU Commission was an indication of which way Germans are heading. She probably thinks that wokery will see the EU through.
You know... Peace and love and all that, along with a few rounds of Kumbaya whilst sitting around the camp fire.
I wonder if Putin will be there?

3. terence patrick hewett , Saturday, August 19, 2023, 08:00:

Germany does not want to spend their own money on their own armaments: Germany wants other countries to spend money on German armaments. Its a varient of the classic teutonic ploy, of promising a massive order, in order to get the maximum workshare: but once they have the workshare, the order is whittled down to microscopic proportions. Saw it coming.

4. Catherine , Saturday, August 19, 2023, 08:03:

@2, Stephen Jenner: President Biden favours Ursula von der Leyen as the next NATO Secretary General.

5. Major Graham Lear , Saturday, August 19, 2023, 08:08:

Is anyone surprised, I am not.
First Germany is now the sick man of not only the EU but also the whole of Europe.
This is what Holger Zschaepitz a German economy journalist living in Berlin said yesterday
Good Morning from #Germany, which after 24 years has again been awarded the title of "The Sick Man of Europe" by the Statesman
At the end of July he was saying the same thing, in fact, this is the fourth time this year he has said it starting way back in Feb
Here are some more things he has been saying this year
Holger Zschaepitz
Good Morning from #Germany where the business climate among the self-employed worsened for the 4th consecutive month in July, reflecting the impact of slowing econ growth. The ifo index declined to -16.4 points in July from -12.6 points in June. Among service providers, business deterioration is expected in the coming months amid falling sales and low order backlog. The self-employed in the manufacturing sector are also suffering from diminishing demand, while those in the customer-related industries are affected by weak consumer spending.
Holger Zschaepitz
Good Morning from #Germany, which looks more like a developing country when you look at the stock market. The stock market value of all listed domestic comps as a % of GDP is just 68%. In the US, the value is >200%, in Denmark 194% thx to Novo Nordisk, and in France 123%. Only countries like Italy or Spain are worse off in terms of this stock mkt indicator.
It goes on and on
Of course, the second thing is the fact that we all know that the EU wants its own military and Germany can't afford to pay twice

6. Major Graham Lear , Saturday, August 19, 2023, 08:25:

4. Catherine
Of course, he does, out of all he could choose from he chooses the most incompetent person in Europe when it comes to defence, a person who when she was in charge of defence in her own country sent her soldiers to train with other NATO forces without equipment. The German soldiers were so embarrassed that took along broomsticks and painted them black then attached them to the top of armoured vehicles. That is how stupid Biden really is. How can any competent person never mind a President of the United States even begin to trust that woman? She has never served, is a bureaucrat and knows nothing about how any military operates. I shudder at the thought of that woman being in charge of NATO. Hopefully, the next President will see her for what she is and overturns her appointment.

7. Gazzablack , Saturday, August 19, 2023, 16:21:

4, Catherine
It's should come as no surprise that 'creepy' Joe would consider Ursula Fonda Lying as the perfect choice to head NATO, not after he chose 'cackling' Kamala Harris as his running mate.
And as senile as Biden is, prey he survives to the end of his presidential term, because the idea Kamala taking over doesn't bear thinking about.

8. LuxuryBalloon , Saturday, August 19, 2023, 18:33:

I suppose we have occupied Germany until 2020 with British troops … in 2010, we had more than 20,000 British soldiers in Germany. Maybe we stayed too long and not encouraged Germany to stand on its own two military feet.

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