Germany’s Baerbock backs U.S. missiles to deter Russia

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a press conference | Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa

Berlin (dpa) – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has backed the stationing of long-range missiles in Germany to deter Russian aggression amid a debate within the country’s three-party coalition over plans to deploy nuclear-capable U.S. weapons.

Speaking to the Sunday editions of Funke Media Group newspapers, Baerbock said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “constantly expanded the arsenal with which he threatens our freedom in Europe.”

“We have to defend ourselves and our Baltic partners against this, by means of increased deterrence and additional long-range weapons,” the minister, a member of the Greens, said.

Rolf Mützenich, the parliamentary head of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), had earlier spoken of the risks posed by these weapons, given their “extremely short warning time.”

“The risk of an unintended military escalation is significant,” he said.

Mützenich acknowledged the need to improve defence capabilities, but said NATO is already equipped with comprehensive graduated deterrence capabilities. He questioned why the Tomahawks should be stationed in Germany alone.

The White House and the German government announced during the July 9-11 NATO summit in Washington that the United States would again deploy missile systems that could reach Russia. These include nuclear-capable Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 2,500 kilometres, SM-6 anti-aircraft missiles and newly-developed hypersonic missiles.

Baerbock said that Russia under Putin had withdrawn from disarmament agreements. “He aims to frighten us, put us under pressure and divide our societies,” she told the newspapers.

While Germany wished for a different sort of relationship with Russia, Putin’s Russia was the greatest security threat to Germany and peace in Europe, Baerbock said. Ukrainians were bravely defending that peace every day, she added.

Last week, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in an interview with Luxembourg’s Tageblatt newspaper that his government had not yet decided where to place the U.S. missiles in Germany.

According to Russian news agency TASS, the Russian foreign ministry said last week Moscow does not rule out deploying nuclear missiles in response to the U.S. deployment in Germany. TASS also reported comments by the Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev in which he said, “The arms race in Europe is already underway,” adding, “Germany, by unquestioningly supporting the White House’s policy, is playing the role of NATO’s main pillar in Europe, despite the evident military and political risks.”