Outgoing German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday that defence spending equivalent to 2% of gross domestic product was insufficient and that 3% or more was necessary depending on the circumstances.

A new NATO-led air defense mission in Poland sprang into action this week by scrambling F-35 jets in response to a potential Russian drone incursion.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has insisted that he is committed to NATO spending, but he says Donald Trump's demands are too high. One other NATO member, however, has welcomed the incoming US president's suggestion.

NATO launched a new Baltic Sea mission that will add military capabilities into the strategic waterway as concerns over suspected Russian sabotage and aggression in the area ratchet up.

Germany, Poland, Britain, France and Italy will implement as swiftly as possible new NATO targets for weapons and troop numbers which the alliance is about to agree upon, German Defence Minister Pistorius pledged on Monday.

On Monday, Bavarian State Police reported that drone flights were spotted over German armed forces (Bundeswehr) sites in Manching and Neuburg an der Donau. Three drones were reported flying on December 18 over the airfield in Manching, which is used to test the airworthiness of new aircraft ordered for the German military.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected a demand from United States President-elect Donald Trump that members of the NATO military alliance should increase their defense spending to at least 5 percent of their gross domestic product.

The German military will establish a new division tasked exclusively with territorial defence, the army said on Saturday, bringing all existing reserve units under direct army command.

Chancellor Scholz says Germany prepared to take responsibility and deploy naval forces to counter suspected Russian sabotage of underwater infrastructure - Anadolu Ajansı

Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner to become Germany's next chancellor, said defence spending targets should be aligned with actual needs instead of abstract figures, after US President-elect Donald Trump demanded NATO members spend 5% of GDP on defence.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says the alliance is launching a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday dismissed incoming US president Donald Trump's demands that Germany and other NATO allies spend at least 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence. "Five percent would be over €200 billion ($204 billion) per year,