Tag: NATO

German defence minister: Damage to Baltic Sea cables likely sabotage

German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius during a visit to OCCAR-EA, the European Organization for Joint Armaments Co-operation (OCCAR) on November 15, 2024 at North Rhine-Westphalia, Bonn | Photo: Thomas Banneyer/dpa

Damage to submarine communication cables between new NATO members Finland and Sweden and their alliance partners Germany and Lithuania was likely sabotage, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday. “No one believes that these cables were cut by mistake,” Pistorius said in Brussels at an EU defence ministers meeting to discuss the different threats facing the European Union.

German Cabinet approves new military service model to boost numbers

File Photo: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (r) and Boris Pistorius, German Minister of Defence, talk at the start of the German Cabinet meeting on June 12, 2024 in Berlin. Germany's Cabinet approved legislation introducing a new form of military service on November 06, according to government sources | Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa

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 Ministry faces shortfall of €6 billion

German Minister of Defence, Boris Pistorius is pictured during an interview with the German Press Agency (DPA) on November 04, 2024 in Berlin | Photo: Carsten Koall//dpa

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.”

German defence chief warns of Russian military build-up

Carsten Breuer, Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, speaks at the opening of the Bundeswehr Day at the Holzdorf site at Saxony-Anhalt, Holzdorf-Schoenewalde on June 08, 2024. Breuer has said he sees a growing danger in Russia's military build-up | Photo: Frank Hammerschmidt/dpa

“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.

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

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

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.

Pushback against conscription plans in Germany

Two female soldiers of the German Armed Forces, Vivian T. (L) and Ramona F. (R) walk across the grounds of Lueneburg's Theodor Koerner Barracks in Lower Saxony on November 17, 2022 | File Photo: Philipp Schulze/dpa

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.

Kremlin slams plans for long-range U.S. weapons in Germany

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov complains about support for Ukraine from Germany, France, the UK and the USA | File Photo: Vladimir Smirnov/KREMLIN/dpa

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.

U.S. postpones military exercise in Georgia

Members of Georgian special operations forces and Green Berets with U.S. Army 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) perform a training dive in Batumi, Georgia, October 25, 2023 in Exercise Georgian Wave | Photo: U.S. Army/Staff Sgt. Laura Bauer

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.’

German arms exports surge with deliveries to Kiev, Riyadh

Finished HK416 assault rifles are lined up in the production hall of arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch in Oberndorf. German arms exports have reached a new record level for the second year in a row, mostly due to continued and growing military aid for Ukraine, according to the Economy Ministry. | - Photo: Bernd Weiflbrod/dpa/28 February 2022, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Oberndorf

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.

NATO sees German defence spending at €90.6B

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during his speech at the Wilson Center in Washington D.C. | Source: NATO

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.