German Defense Minister Says $100Bln Not Enough To Modernize National Forces

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2023) A special defense fund worth 100 billion Euros ($108.5 billion) will not be enough for Germany to modernize its troops and cover maintenance costs for military equipment, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday.

In June, the German parliament and the Federal council approved by a majority of votes Chancellor Olaf Scholz's initiative to create the special fund of 100 billion euros to improve the country's defense capabilities.

"(A fund worth) 100 billion euros will not be enough.

Every new system we get requires new maintenance costs," the minister told German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Scholz announced the initiative to create the fund during his speech in the German parliament on February 27, 2022, three days after Russia began its military operation in Ukraine. The money will top up the country's regular defense budget of some 50 billion euros for next years, allowing the government to reach the NATO goal of spending 2% of its gross domestic product for defense purposes annually.