Germany Says French Defense Spending Insufficient

"He repeatedly and correctly refers to our pursuit of European sovereignty," Wadephul said of French President Emmanuel Macron in a radio interview with broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. "Anyone who talks about it needs to act accordingly in their own country."

European nations are under pressure to develop the capabilities to better defend themselves amid increasing disinterest from the United States regarding the continent's security and some doubt over the solidity of the NATO alliance.

Though NATO member states pledged last June to get defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035, Wadephul said progress so far had been lacking.

"Unfortunately, efforts in the French Republic have also been insufficient to achieve this so far," Wadephul said. "France, too, needs to do what we are doing here with difficult discussions."

Germany last year exempted most defense spending from constitutionally enshrined debt limits and current budgets foresee Berlin spending more than 500 billion euros ($593 billion) on defense between 2025 and 2029. 

Under financial pressure, France has less room for manoeuvre. The country has the European Union's third-highest debt burden as a proportion of GDP after Greece and Italy, almost twice the 60-percent ceiling set in EU treaties.