Russia’s war on Ukraine has prompted Germany to revisit its defence posture, which increasingly suffered from a lack of investment since the end of the Cold War as imminent threats appeared to diminish. The legislation must now pass through Germany’s two houses of parliament. It could come into force in May of next year.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that the Bundeswehr needs around €58 billion ($63 billion) in 2025 to quickly close capability gaps. “As things stand, we will be allocated around €52 billion”, he said, adding, “That means we will be short of almost €6 billion next year.”
“The Russian army increases its number of tanks by 1,000 to 1,500 additional units every year. The five largest European NATO member states together have just half of that in their inventory,” said Germany’s chief of defence Carsten Breuer.
The U.S. and German governments announced plans for the deployment of U.S. 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.
Economic researchers and partners in the ruling coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz have warned of immense economic costs and legal difficulties that could result from plans for military conscription proposed by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in June in an attempt to boost the numbers of the German armed forces.
Russia has criticized the planned stationing of long-range US weapons in Germany as a return to the Cold War, after German leaders said the step was necessary due to the increased threat posed by Russia to European security. “We are well on the way to a Cold War. This has all happened before,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
German politicians voiced their outrage on Friday after a CNN report detailed an alleged Russian plot to assassinate the head of German arms maker Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, as a Kremlin spokesman denied any involvement from Moscow.
The Pentagon said last week the U.S. will indefinitely postpone a military exercise in Georgia ‘due to the Georgian government’s false accusations against the United States and other western entities, to pressure Georgia to open a second front against Russia to alleviate pressure on Ukraine, and of participating in two coup attempts against the ruling party.’
“Yes, I give this guarantee,” Scholz said in response to a question in the Bundestag parliament on Wednesday, echoing comments he had made before. “That’s what I stand for as chancellor.”
Between January 01, 2024 and June 18, 2024, the German government approved a total of weapons exports worth at least EUR 7.48 billion (USD 8.01 billion), up 30 percent from the first half of last year, with some 65 percent of the exports, worth EUR 4.88 billion, destined for Ukraine.
A new NATO overview says the record €90.6B on defence expenditure, to which Berlin committed for the first time this year, corresponds to a 2.12 percent share of the forecast German GDP, and is higher than expected at the beginning of the year.
400,000 people will have to complete a questionnaire each year, and some 40,000 candidates could then take part in the physical mandatory physical check-up call-up. Pistorius stressed that he anticipates only summoning those who indicate a voluntary interest.
NATO allies are planning to launch a new project in support of Kiev, dubbed “NATO Mission Ukraine“, at their next summit in Washington. The German government is reportedly concerned that designating the project a mission could be understood as NATO planning to send troops to Ukraine, and prefers the name, “Pledge Assistance Coordination Training” – or “PACT“.
Ralf Ketzel, managing director of KNDS, manufacturer of Leopard 2 battle tanks, said,”The ability to deliver quickly is now exhausted,” adding, “Two years ago, a strategic decision should have been made that this will be a war lasting several years. Then we could deliver new material today,” in reference to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022.
Economy Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė said Rheinmetall would invest more than €180 million ($195 million) in the new plant, which is expected to produce 155-millimetre artillery shells. Rheinmetall is already active in Lithuania, operating a maintenance centre with defence company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann in the country since 2022. The facility maintains combat vehicles used by NATO combat units stationed in the region, as well as Leopard 2 battle tanks given by Germany to Ukraine.
