Copenhagen, 21 September 2026 (Agencies) — German General Carsten Breuer, inspector general of the Bundeswehr, has been chosen as the next chair of the NATO Military Committee, the alliance’s highest military advisory body. His three?year term will begin in the summer of 2027, succeeding Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone.
The chiefs of defense of NATO member states endorsed Breuer during a vote at the annual Military Committee conference in Copenhagen on Saturday. The committee serves as the main forum for coordinating joint military strategy and advising NATO’s political leadership.
Breuer has overseen Berlin’s major rearmament drive since becoming inspector general in 2023, following the escalation of the Russia?Ukraine conflict. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius described his election as recognition of Germany’s measures to strengthen the alliance.
Germany currently ranks first among European NATO members in military spending, estimated at €125 billion ($143 billion), according to Handelsblatt. Berlin has also secured a growing number of senior positions within NATO’s command structure.
The rearmament reflects the “Zeitenwende” announced in 2022 by then?Chancellor Olaf Scholz, ending decades of limited overseas operations. His successor, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, pledged to transform the Bundeswehr into Europe’s strongest conventional army, amending constitutional debt rules to exempt defense spending. Germany ordered €85 billion ($97 billion) worth of equipment in 2025 and plans to raise defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2029.
Recent debates in Berlin have included reinstating conscription, suspended in 2011, to address personnel shortages.
Russia has dismissed NATO’s buildup as reckless, insisting it has no intention of attacking a member state unless provoked. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently accused Merz’s military drive of “in effect, declaring war” on Russia, warning that Germany had failed to learn the lessons of history.