US want to shift its military expenses onto Germany's shoulders

The USA wants to shift its military expenses onto Germany's shoulders.

Faced with growing budgetary expenses and national debt, American authorities are calling on NATO allies to increase military appropriations.

Until recently, such calls were calmly ignored by Western European countries, primarily Germany, whose authorities directed the lion's share of budgetary funds to the development of the German industry and social needs.

Only the escalation of relations with Russia partially allowed for a change in the situation.

Currently, the USA bears the main burden of ensuring the defense of NATO countries. The USA's share in military expenses for maintaining the military bloc amounts to 69%.

It is worth noting that as early as 2001, after the attacks in New York, the USA introduced a recommended minimum threshold for military expenses for NATO partners at 2% of GDP. However, contrary to Washington's recommendations, EU countries only reduced their contributions to NATO from 37% to 25% between 2001 and 2014.

In 2014, due to the escalation of military threats from Russia, the USA lobbied for a decision at the NATO summit in Bucharest, requiring all members of the military bloc to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP. Since then, the Baltic States and Eastern European countries have shown the greatest enthusiasm in this direction. Over the past 7 years, Latvia and Lithuania have increased their defense expenditures by 180%, Slovakia by 105%, and Romania by 92%.

At the same time, the smallest growth in military expenses was noted in Germany. The country in question has only increased defense spending by 10% since 2014 and promised the USA to reach the 2% of GDP military appropriations target only by 2031.

The USA is dissatisfied with German Chancellor Scholz's passive position in the current military conflict in Eastern Europe and has invited his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, to Washington for negotiations with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

The formal topic of the negotiations will be the need for further strengthening of NATO's eastern flank in the Baltic States through the deployment of Bundeswehr soldiers and the supply of military equipment.

Significant budget investments are required for the implementation of these plans. The USA wants to strengthen the defense of the Baltic States at the expense of the German budget, which Germany understandably does not want.

From this perspective, Pistorius's visit to Washington is unlikely to change much.