Germany expected to 'make a dramatic turn in defense' to meet 'Trump's objective'

Germany has said it could increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, positioning the country in line with US President Donald Trump's demands.

Trump has long urged NATO partners to increase their military spending.

Initially, he wanted to see each country spend 2% of GDP on defense, but the figure was later increased to 5%.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul spoke about this issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Turkey, where talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place, reports the Telegraph.

Wadephul said for the first time that Germany would follow the US president's "demand" to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

"We are following him," Wadephul said.

Why this change?

Former Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the Social Democrats (SPD), distanced himself from Trump's higher demand, explaining this year that "5% would be over 200 billion euros per year."

The federal budget "doesn't even amount to 500 billion euros," Scholz said in Bielefeld in January.

"This would only be possible with massive tax increases or massive cuts to many things that are important to us," he added.

Meanwhile, the new Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed during the election campaign that the GDP percentages were not "appropriate".

At an event in early January, he explained that "whether it's 2, 2.5 or 5%, to be honest, that's only of secondary importance to me."

"The strongest army in Europe"

For Merz, it is essential that Germany invests more in its military, which is known as the Bundeswehr.

In his first government statement on Wednesday, Merz said it would become "the strongest conventional army in Europe."

The Bundeswehr is currently short of personnel.

However, there will be no compulsory military service for the time being, confirmed SPD Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

Military service will continue to be based on voluntary service, inspired by the Swedish model.

To change this, the new German government would require two-thirds of politicians to support it in the Bundestag, a majority it does not have.

The left-wing party Die Linke, which currently has 64 members in parliament, is against compulsory military service.

Ates Gürpinar, the party's federal deputy chairman, told Euronews: "The Left Party rejects compulsory military service. The suspension of conscription in 2011 was a great success."

This means that the German government can only pass a new conscription law with the votes of the far-right AfD party, whose election manifesto stated that conscription should not be for women. /Telegraph/