In his policy statement on February 27, 2022, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 represented a “historic turning point” [Zeitenwende] and reacted to this by, among other things, planning to increase the military budget to 2% of GDP. NATO allies, especially the USA, had repeatedly criticized Germany for not reaching the agreed 2% target, as military spending was politically unpopular. According to NATO figures, the last time Germany spent 2% of GDP on defense was in 1992. This photo shows Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) during a visit to the Bergen military training area near Osterholz in Lower Saxony.