Kramp-Karrenbauer sworn in as German defense minister

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Germany’s new defense minister on Wednesday reaffirmed her country’s commitment to NATO and pledged to boost military spending to reach the targets of the alliance.

“Germany is strongly anchored in the transatlantic alliance, it will remain strongly anchored in NATO,” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said at her swearing-in ceremony in parliament, adding that Germany will try to reach the NATO target of spending 2% of its economic output on defense.

She said that by 2024, the government will raise the defense budget to 1.5% of national economic output.

Like her predecessor Ursula von der Leyen, Kramp-Karrenbauer argued for strengthening the military capabilities of the European Union, but also claimed that this would not undermine Berlin’s commitments to NATO.

“We would like to make Europe stronger, also with substantial military capabilities,” she said, adding that Germany would use its EU term presidency next year to further develop the European Defense Union.

The 56-year-old conservative politician, widely seen as Chancellor Angela Merkel's favored successor, became defense minister after her predecessor Ursula von der Leyen’s election to European Commission president.

She was elected leader of the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in December, after Merkel’s decision to step down from the post.