“Quantum leap” through war?
Merz calls for independence from US nuclear weapons
05/07/2022 03:48 am
CDU leader Merz sees the Ukraine war as an opportunity for a realignment of German and European security policy. One must make oneself more independent of the USA, especially with regard to the defense capability. New partnerships are needed, especially when it comes to nuclear weapons.
According to CDU leader Friedrich Merz, the previous German globalization strategy is coming to an end. “Importing cheap products, exporting expensive products, producing with cheap Russian gas and leaving our security largely to the Americans – that no longer works like that,” Merz told the Rheinische Post. The time has come for Germany and Europe to position themselves in such a way that they become more independent, autonomous and resilient overall.
“This war could be a quantum leap in European foreign and security policy – with our own integrated armed forces, which we can then deploy.” For example, people still rely on the Americans for nuclear deterrence. “But what do we do if the next American president doesn’t renew this security guarantee? Would we then be ready to enter into a new strategic partnership with France? This must be discussed and negotiated now so that we are not surprised by events again in a few years’ time of world politics.”
The opposition leader criticized the traffic light government for making ambiguous statements about the Bundeswehr’s financial resources. “We expect the coalition to simply do what the Chancellor said on February 27, namely to invest more than two percent of our gross domestic product per year in our defense from now on.” Merz criticized that after the government statement it had become strangely quiet about the two percent target.