Germany’s defense budget will have to be increased “in the coming years,” Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in an interview with the Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Reuters reports.

Lindner delayed presenting the first draft of the budget on Thursday, but is expected to unveil his plans for Europe’s biggest economy on Wednesday, when he will also present a financial forecast until 2027.

In the aforementioned interview, excerpts of which were made public as early as Saturday, the minister said he was open to increasing defense spending, while noting that negotiations would be difficult given decades of low interest rates and rising government revenues. .

“The situation we are facing now as we plan the 2024 budget is incomparable to any budget discussion in the last ten years,” Lindner said.

“The reality is different now. For the first time in more than a decade, we must consolidate,” he said.

But despite the need to strengthen fiscal policy, he announced an increase in defense spending.

“It is necessary that the defense budget increases in the coming years,” Lindner said.

“Especially if the outflow of funds from the special program for the German armed forces can no longer contribute to the achievement of the 2% target,” the minister said, without giving exact figures (Agerpres).