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,

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy asked whether the US saw NATO as being necessary as he addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos. Leaders from China, Ukraine and Germany have taken the stage on day one.

Other German politicians have equally rebuked US President-elect Donald Trump over his demand that NATO's European members should more than double their defence spending.

Germany’s opposition leader has vowed to bar people from entering the country without proper papers and to step up deportations if he is elected as chancellor next month, as a knife attack by a rejected asylum-seeker spills over into an election

Donald Trump's return to the White House has darkened the mood in Germany a month before elections, as multiple crises shake the foundations on which Europe's biggest economy built its post-war prosperity.

Chancellor Scholz says spending 5% of GDP on defense would require Germany to allocate more than €200 billion ($204 billion) annually on military expenditures - Anadolu Ajansı

After years in which Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been accused of treading lightly on European and world stages, conservative election front-runner Friedrich Merz has vowed a bold return to international affairs.

Speaking in Davos, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned whether Trump was committed to NATO and European security.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday said Europe "will not duck and hide" in response to Donald Trump's return as US president.

Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Baltic Sentry will include frigates and maritime patrol aircraft, as well as a small fleet of naval drones.

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

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