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Germany has a complicated relationship with its military. Two world wars when the country was on the wrong side of history have taught Germans to be cautious about the pitfalls of a big army. But with a war on European soil and a U.S. president who is less committed to defending Europe, Germany - Europe's largest economy - is stepping up. NPR's Berlin correspondent Rob Schmitz reports.
ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Just six weeks into his current term in office, President Trump was asked a question about countries like Germany, which for years have not paid 2% of their GDP on defending themselves a requirement of all NATO countries. He was so eager to answer that he interrupted the reporter.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, think it's common sense, right? If they don't pay, I'm not going to defend them.
SCHMITZ: A new Trump presidency and an ongoing war on European soil has pushed Germany - a country that for the better part of two decades spent around a single percent of its GDP on its beleaguered military - to finally change its constitution in order to spend more. Just weeks after Trump's comments, incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave what many observers saw as an historic speech to Parliament.
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CHANCELLOR FRIEDRICH MERZ: (Speaking German).
SCHMITZ: "Building up our military," said Merz, "is our top priority. From now on, the federal government will provide the military with as much money as it needs to ensure it becomes Europe's strongest armed force. We are Europe's most populous country and Europe's biggest economy, and nothing less should be expected from us. Our partners," said Merz, "not only expect this, they demand it."
CLAUDIA MAJOR: So this sense of urgency made a decision possible that was unthinkable before.
SCHMITZ: Claudia Major is a political scientist at the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund. She says the German government's plan to, over the next decade, spend 3.5% of its GDP on defense - a percentage equal to that of the United States - is a bold move.
MAJOR: But we also know that the DNA of a country, the way how a country, the citizens behave in defense, how they see military force, how they see their armed forces, takes years and decades to change. Normally, we say it takes a generation.
SCHMITZ: But some parts of German society are more ready than others for this historic change. Inside an assembly room in an industrial park outside Munich, a worker tests a drone.
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SCHMITZ: It's called a Vector, and for Quantum Systems, it's their best-selling drone, says Director of Operations Alexandra Rietenbach.
ALEXANDRA RIETENBACH: It's our dual-use product. It's used, on the one hand, in Ukraine. It's also used for the German armed forces. It also is used in Europe in general, in different organizations like police, like border control.
SCHMITZ: The Vector has rotating propellers that enable it to go up and down like a helicopter and then shift into what's called glide mode, like a plane.
RIETENBACH: So if you go into the gliding mode, you have much more capability to fly longer distances, to use the circumstances in the air for saving energy.
SCHMITZ: Rietenbach says Ukrainian troops rely on the Vector and the company's other drones to gain a military advantage against invading Russian troops. As a result, she says, sales have picked up from selling 200 vectors in 2023.
RIETENBACH: Last year, we more than tripled. So for this year, we have also the aim to sell around about 1,500 to 2,000 Vectors. So sales is running smoothly.
SCHMITZ: And while business for German defense companies like Quantum Systems look promising, the country's defense spending boost might take some time when it comes to rebuilding a culture of military service. That starts here at a job fair in Berlin, where the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces, has set up a recruiting booth.
MARCO MANN: (Speaking German). Thank you for service. (Speaking German).
SCHMITZ: Recruitment officer Marco Mann says, In his 18 years of recruiting at fairs like this one, he never used to hear, thank you for your service, but that's starting to change, he says. People are thanking us for our support of Ukraine, thanking us for being here. It's a nice change, he says. Abdul Rehman Saeed is one of those gracious job-seekers at this fair. He's 32, born in Pakistan, but has lived in Germany for a decade and is a German citizen. He's interested in joining the Bundeswehr as an IT specialist.
ABDUL REHMAN SAEED: It's not about going to the battlefield, but as a preemptive measure to actually help them if they are trying to do something, and might be they need someone with the cybersecurity because everything is now cyber war.
SCHMITZ: Rehman Saeed says Germany has given him a free education, affordable health care, opportunities.
REHMAN SAEED: I feel personally responsible to provide back to the society because Germany gave me a life I wanted.
SCHMITZ: And in return, he says, if he gets job security, then joining the Bundeswehr is a win-win. And as the Bundeswehr has more money and begins the challenging process of recruiting more personnel, it hopes to gain prestige, both domestically as well as internationally - a return to the days when Germany helped maintain security for itself and for Europe. Rob Schmitz, NPR News, Berlin. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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