The German government will adopt a new national security strategy that will take into account ‘threats from Russia’ in a few months, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in his article for the Foreign Affairs magazine.
“For the last three decades, decisions regarding Germany’s security and the equipment of the country’s armed forces were taken against the backdrop of a Europe at peace. Now, the guiding question will be which threats we and our allies must confront in Europe, most immediately from Russia,” the chancellor said.
According to him, such threats include “potential assaults on allied territory, cyberwarfare, and even the remote chance of a nuclear attack”.
Scholz noted that the transatlantic partnership would play a special role in this. “US President Joe Biden and his administration deserve praise for building and investing in strong partnerships and alliances across the globe. But a balanced and resilient transatlantic partnership also requires that Germany and Europe play active roles,” Scholz noted.
The chancellor recalled that the German government decided to create a €100 billion special fund to better equip the armed forces, which required constitutional changes. According to Scholz, the move was the “starkest change in German security policy since the establishment of the Bundeswehr in 1955.”
