(Bloomberg) -- German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius acknowledged Polish criticism that the government in Berlin needs to spend more on its military while reiterating his opposition to joint European Union borrowing to fund defense spending.
A deputy Polish defense minister this week urged Germany to show more leadership by increasing its budget for the armed forces, and said Europe should explore “new financing schemes, for example issuing joint EU debt.”
In a written response to Bloomberg, Pistorius said European and NATO allies “all have to take more responsibility,” even when government funds are limited.
“And yes, we also need to think about financing instruments,” he added. “However, I am skeptical about the communitization of debts.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, like Pistorius a Social Democrat, has pledged to maintain military spending at a higher level after the country met the NATO spending goal of 2% of gross domestic product for the first time this year.
At the same time, both Scholz and his main challenger in February’s election, conservative Friedrich Merz, strictly oppose pooling EU debt to fund the armed forces.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has fueled concern the US will scale back both its engagement with NATO and military assistance for Ukraine, putting more pressure on European nations like Germany to step up their contributions.
Pistorius said Europe needs to “standardize more and rely on interchangeable systems” regarding the production of weapons and ammunition.
“This also allows manufacturers to produce more, and more easily,” he said. “We all have to take more responsibility together as Europeans in NATO.”
--With assistance from Piotr Skolimowski.
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