COLOGNE

US President-elect Donald Trump’s demand for NATO members to increase their defense spending from the 2% minimum target to 5% spurred debate in Germany, according to the Euronews media outlet on Wednesday.

Germany considers the demand excessively high.

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, former chair of the FDP’s defense committee, said Trump should not “make up a number out of thin air,” said Euronews. “We are not at a bazaar here.”

Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the main opposition party, said a specific target is “irrelevant,” suggesting the country needs to “do what is necessary to defend” itself, it said.

Marcus Faber, chair of the defense committee of Free Democratic Party (FDP), said a 3% target seems more realistic, instead of 5%, though the 32 NATO member states need to agree, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), urged a change in foreign policy toward the US, ending dependence on that country and prioritizing independence of Germany instead of obedience, while making significant progress in relations with France.

Prior to Trump’s statements, Chancellor Olaf Scholz had rejected increasing defense spending Tuesday by almost double -- a proposal made by Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, a candidate in the federal elections to be held Feb. 23.

Scholz called the increase in defense spending a “half-baked” idea, according to Stern magazine.

“Who will pay the bill? The citizens,” Scholz told the Hamburg-based publication.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul