Europe must strengthen ability to defend itself - Scholz

"We Europeans must take much more care of our own security, now and in the future," Scholz said on the second day of the conference, dubbed the "Davos of Defence". Germany, Europe's largest economy, has hiked its spending on defence to 2% of output and will continue to hit that target of the NATO western defence alliance, Scholz said.

Europe must strengthen its ability to defend itself to deter would-be aggressors regardless of who wins the upcoming U.S. elections or how the war in Ukraine turns out, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told a security conference in Munich on Saturday. "We Europeans must take much more care of our own security, now and in the future," Scholz said on the second day of the conference, dubbed the "Davos of Defence".

Germany, Europe's largest economy, has hiked its spending on defence to 2% of output and will continue to hit that target of the NATO western defence alliance, Scholz said. Germany is also discussing with allies France and Britain the development of distance-capable precision weapons in order to ensure its deterrence strategy remained cutting edge, he said.