“If Putin attacks, we must be ready to go to war,” Pistorius said in an interview published on Saturday.
The minister’s comments come as NATO members push to increase defense spending, with new NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte saying alliance members need to spend “well above” the current 2% of GDP. Target.
U.S. President-elect Trump reportedly told European officials that he wants NATO allies to spend 5% of their GDP on defense.
To ensure such budget growth, Pistorius said he supports reforms to Germany’s debt brake, which sets a constitutional cap on budget deficits.
“I think it would be politically wrong to strictly adhere to the debt brake in this situation,” Pistorius said. “If we provide the necessary spending for defense from the normal budget, it will stifle the country’s ability to act, endangering social security and thus empowering extremist parties.”
In 2009, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote the debt brake into the constitution, limiting the structural budget deficit in normal times to 0.35% of GDP. It is increasingly criticized as being inconsistent with modern reality.
Pistorius has also publicly expressed support for Germany’s participation in European efforts to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, but stressed that this plan can only be implemented after the war is over.
