Germany’s €80B rearmament plan sidelines US weapons – POLITICO
www.politico.eu

A procurement plan obtained by POLITICO shows Berlin’s rearmament spree will overwhelmingly benefit European industry.

Germany’s new military procurement plan, obtained by POLITICO, shows that Berlin will steer its massive rearmament drive primarily to European industry, with only 8 percent going for American weapons.

That’s a blow for Donald Trump, who has been putting pressure on European countries to continue buying U.S. arms despite the geopolitical turmoil emanating from the White House.

The procurement plan shows Germany preparing to push through nearly €83 billion in contracts over the next year. The list, drawn up for the German parliament’s budget committee, details 154 major defense purchases between September 2025 and December 2026.

  • FishFace@lemmy.worldEnglish
    82·
    3 days ago

    Germany is also a large, wealthy country. If you compare it to its peers the picture is completely different. It spends about 1.9% of GDP on the military.

    Any cent dumped on war can also be used against you, keep this in mind when you cheer up military spending.

    Personally I am 0% worried about Germany’s military spending being used against me.

    I am much more worried that an overall more belligerent tone is being created in the world that will make it more dangerous for everyone, including me, but failure to respond to belligerence doesn’t make us safe either. Don’t forget what’s at stake: by shipping Ukrainian children off to Russia, Putin is carrying out ethnic cleansing. If his testing of boundaries reveals he might be able to take another slice of salami for himself, he is likely to. That slice will mean another attempt to extinguish a culture.

    • brachiosaurus@mander.xyzEnglish
      91·
      3 days ago

      Personally I am 0% worried about Germany’s military spending being used against me.

      You assume the germany government is a bunch of good guys that will never use weapons against you. Ever heard about afd?

      • FishFace@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        3 days ago

        Even if the AfD takes power, there is no chance they’re using Germany’s military against me.

              • FishFace@lemmy.worldEnglish
                31·
                2 days ago

                So you think the AfD is going to

                1. take real power in Germany
                2. decide I am someone of interest
                3. find my IP
                4. look up that IP and connect it to my real identity
                5. decide to use military assets against me

                None of this chain of events is likely. Yes, it’s possible to find people’s real identity from their online identity, but what about the rest of it?

                  • FishFace@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    2·
                    2 days ago

                    What makes you think there is any chance that the AfD is going to carry out war-on-terror style extrajudicial killings on me?

                    You don’t even know anything about me or my circumstances; you clearly don’t think this is actually likely because that would be stupid. I, with knowledge of my own situation, can tell you it is vanishingly improbable.

                    You started this subthread because people were in favour of Germany increasing military spending to counter the threat from Russia. Russia carrying out extra-judicial, extra-territorial killings, waging wars of conquest, carrying out ethnic cleansing and mass repression is not a possibility - it is happening right now.

                    When we assess whether the risk of future misuse of military assets is worth it, we need to be clear about what it is those military assets are for - they are precisely to prevent the misuse, as we see it, of the military assets of foreign states against our own citizens. When such aggression is rare, such as between 1991 and 2014, it is better to reduce the size of the military. When aggression is on the rise, it is necessary to increase it again.