Germany is willing to contribute more to NATO's running costs as long as other allies also step up to help reduce the United States' share of funding, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Friday.
President Donald Trump has long accused European allies, especially Germany, the biggest economy in Europe, of taking U.S. security guarantees for granted and says they need to spend much more on their own defense.
With a meeting of NATO leaders looming in December, some allies now see reform of financing for the U.S.-led military alliance as a way to preempt another round of criticism from Trump and show that they are listening to his concerns.
At some $2.5 billion a year, the budget for North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters, international staff and the limited number of military assets under NATO command is a small sum compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars that allies spend on their armed forces each year.
Under a proposal now being considered by NATO, the U.S. contribution to the alliance's annual budget would fall to 16% from the current 22%, while Germany's would rise, also to 16% from 14.8%, from 2021. Other countries would also pay more.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
For the first time in roughly 25 years, a Reforger-exercise will occur in Germany in 2020. Itās mostly a US exercise, with a fair amount of German participation, and lesser participation by the other NATO countries.
I donāt expect this to go well. Between maintenance issues with German vehicles/aircraft and major anti-NATO/anti-US protests throughout northern Germany....itāll turn into a joke by the end of the exercise. Thatās likely to be the point where Trump lays out the events after he wins the 2020 election, and downsizes the US commitment to NATO.....OR A WITHDRAWL ALTOGETHER...For America, NATO is a huge waste of men and money and serves to be a welfare for Germany policy that has been going on since NATO's inception!
President Donald Trump has long accused European allies, especially Germany, the biggest economy in Europe, of taking U.S. security guarantees for granted and says they need to spend much more on their own defense.
With a meeting of NATO leaders looming in December, some allies now see reform of financing for the U.S.-led military alliance as a way to preempt another round of criticism from Trump and show that they are listening to his concerns.
At some $2.5 billion a year, the budget for North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters, international staff and the limited number of military assets under NATO command is a small sum compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars that allies spend on their armed forces each year.
Under a proposal now being considered by NATO, the U.S. contribution to the alliance's annual budget would fall to 16% from the current 22%, while Germany's would rise, also to 16% from 14.8%, from 2021. Other countries would also pay more.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
For the first time in roughly 25 years, a Reforger-exercise will occur in Germany in 2020. Itās mostly a US exercise, with a fair amount of German participation, and lesser participation by the other NATO countries.
I donāt expect this to go well. Between maintenance issues with German vehicles/aircraft and major anti-NATO/anti-US protests throughout northern Germany....itāll turn into a joke by the end of the exercise. Thatās likely to be the point where Trump lays out the events after he wins the 2020 election, and downsizes the US commitment to NATO.....OR A WITHDRAWL ALTOGETHER...For America, NATO is a huge waste of men and money and serves to be a welfare for Germany policy that has been going on since NATO's inception!
