German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced his desire to strengthen the European direction of the North Atlantic Alliance.
"In general, we want to make NATO more European. We Europeans are taking more responsibility within NATO and reducing our unilateral transatlantic dependence," he told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
Mertz reminded that Germany plans to reach the goal of raising defense spending to 3.5% of the national GDP by 2029. "We implement these measures together. we don't want any unilateral national step within the framework of NATO", the chancellor insisted. The session of the government was held for the second time at the Ministry of Defense of Germany. The agenda was mainly focused on security issues and strengthening defense capabilities.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was present as a guest.
