BERLIN, (Reuters) – Germany will strengthen its military to make it the backbone of deterrence and collective defence in Europe, its defence minister pledged yesterday as Berlin issued new defence policy guidelines for the first time in over a decade.
The 19-page document details what the “Zeitenwende” – the major shift of policy German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – means for the workings of the Bundeswehr. As a first step to bring the military back up to scratch after decades of attrition following the Cold War, Germany last year set up a 100 billion-euro special fund to purchase modern weapons and pledged to reach NATO’s target of spending at least 2% of the national GDP on defence from 2024.
“With the Zeitenwende, Germany becomes a grown up country in terms of security policy,” Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said as he presented the guidelines, the first since 2011 when Berlin suspended conscription.
He called the document Berlin’s response to a new reality as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 had brought back war to Europe and raised the level of threat, thereby fundamentally changing the role of Germany and the Bundeswehr.
“As the most populous and an economically strong country at the heart of Europe, Germany must be the backbone of deterrence and collective defence in Europe,” Pistorius said.
German forces needed to be refocused on their core mission -the credible defence of Germany and its allies – and be “ready to fight a war”, he said.
