(ANSA) - BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed Germany's commitment to NATO's defense spending 2% of GDP by 2024. "What is said in a legislature can not be retracted during the election campaign," Merkel said on Monday in an interview with Phoenix Deutschlandfunk.

The controversial reference is to statements by Social Democrat candidate Martin Schulz, who said on Thursday he was opposed to the growth in military spending. Each member of the Atlantic Alliance should have contributed to military spending by 2%, according NATO summit 2014 in Scotland, when Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, of SPD, was part of the Great Coalition with CDU-CSU.

Merkel added to be not in principle opposed to any government coalition after the vote, either with the SPD, Liberals and Greens together. The only foreclosure is for the Radical Right of the AFD and Linke. (ANSA).