German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has commented on the approach of US President Donald Trump, who is pushing allies to increase defense spending through strong pressure, assessing this stance as justified.
Merz compared the American leader's direct approach to the softer tone of his predecessors, whose appeals, he said, went unanswered in Europe.
"Previous American presidents have politely asked us: 'Please, finally do more for your defense.' But these requests across Europe have largely fallen on deaf ears," the German leader said.
"Now we have an American president who says very directly: 'Enough is enough.' And I can't blame him for that," the German chancellor added.
Merz stressed that the figures show a huge disparity within the alliance.
"We just need to look at the numbers: the United States covers about 80 percent of NATO's defense resources, while Europe only covers about 20 percent," he declared.
"This is unacceptable. It has always been unacceptable," the German chancellor concluded.
Otherwise, the US spends about $900 billion per year on defense, while its European NATO allies and Canada spend about $570–575 billion per year on defense. /Telegraph/
