Merkel demands more money for German Armed Forces because of situation in Eastern Ukraine
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a weekly televised statement, which is published on German Government's website, that the situation in Eastern Ukraine forces NATO member countries to reconsider the Alliance's defense strategy.
"Because of the conflict in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, the topic of national defense and Alliance defense came into focus," said German Chancellor. According to her, the German Armed Forces need financial resources to perform the defense functions.
"The increase in defense spending benefits the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) and thus the security of Germany," said Merkel.
Merkel said that NATO is the fundamental pillar of European security. She also mentioned the plans to create a new combat aircraft and a tank, as well as cooperation between Germany and NATO under the PESCO program (Permanent Structured Cooperation in security and defense policy).
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that NATO experiences "brain death" because of the lack of coordination between Europe and the USA, as well as unilateral actions of Turkey in Syria, which is a key ally of the Alliance.