German soldiers take part in a drill during a NATO military exercise in Lithuania. Germany’s rearming inches the continent’s center of gravity ever closer to Berlin.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergGermany’s Growing Military Might Rekindles Old Fears in France
The unease is acute in Paris, where some worry that the continent’s center of political gravity is moving east as Berlin boosts its defense spending to levels its allies can’t match.
France is watching with both awe and unease as Germany pours resources into a historic rearmament, upending longstanding balances on the continent.
Berlin is doing exactly what the North Atlantic Treaty Organization defense and security alliance agreed: It has committed to spending more than €500 billion ($586 billion) on defense by 2029, hitting NATO’s new goal of investing 3.5% of GDP in the military six years earlier than the alliance demanded.