SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PETE HEGSETH: Well, Mr. Minister, I wanted to welcome you and your team to the Pentagon. Thank you so much for being here. It's an honor to host you. And first, I want to recognize the incredible [inaudible].
So many of the folks at this table have served there and had an opportunity to spend time in your beautiful country, including me very briefly, but —
MINISTER OF DEFENSE BORIS POSTORIUS: [Inaudible]
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PETE HEGSETH: Yes, absolutely. Yeah, about 10 years ago, more now but thank you. And I also want to recognize just the long-standing partnership that we've had, and especially, we've gotten to know each other, Mr. Minister, over a number of meetings now and I think we've seen incredible progress inside NATO and with Germany taking the lead on that, upfront commitment to your spending, commitment to European leadership. And so I want to commend you and thank you for that, to include the contributions and the partnership that we'll continue to undertake, especially given the approach the president is taking, we just talked about this morning at the White House.
So look forward to further partnership and you're also not just Patriot systems, but what you're doing in Lithuania with your brigade and the fifth-generation fighters really leaning forward. So thank you. I look forward to a strong discussion today, and welcome to the Pentagon. Thank you.
MINISTER OF DEFENSE BORIS POSTORIUS: Thanks a lot, Secretary Hegseth, dear Pete. Let me begin by saying that it is a privilege to meet you at the Pentagon today. I very much look forward to continuing our close cooperation and you mentioned that Germany and the United States share a long standing, deep and trusted partnership, a partnership that strengthens not only our two nations, but also benefits the entire transatlantic alliance.
Time and again this bond has proven its value and resilience in the face of unprecedented security challenge. In response to the shifting security landscape, Germany and our European allies have taken significant steps to reinforce the European contributions within NATO. We have committed to substantially increasing our defense investments reaching five percent of our GDP by 2035. According to our budget, Germany budgetary planning, we will achieve 3.5 percent of our GDP on core defense spending by 2029 already.
So, we are determined to assume greater responsibility for Europe's deterrence and defense while recognizing that the contribution of the United States of America remains indispensable to our collective security. Our brigade, you mentioned it in Lithuania, will be operational by 2027. And beside bilateral topics, we will have the opportunity today to discuss some of the key security challenges we face together, strengthening NATO and enhancing our collective defense capabilities, which is really a relevant challenge, maintaining our steadfast support for Ukraine in its courageous fight for freedom and sovereignty, and addressing regional security dynamics in key regions like the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.
So let me assure you once more, Germany will continue to play a strong role and a reliable role in the alliance. We are firmly committed to fair burden sharing and to building and to building a more capable, more reliable, more resilient Europe with NATO. Thank you.
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PETE HEGSETH: Excellent.
MINISTER OF DEFENSE BORIS POSTORIUS: [Inaudible]
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PETE HEGSETH: I appreciate it. Thank you.