The 19-page document details what "Zeitenwende" - the major policy shift announced by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after Russia's February 2022 attack on Ukraine - means for the operations of the Bundeswehr (German armed forces).
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets members of the Patriot air defense missile system unit in Wahn, outside Cologne, Germany, October 23, 2023. Photo: REUTERS
As a first step toward returning its military to its former glory after decades of post-Cold War attrition, Germany last year set up a special 100 billion euro fund to buy modern weapons and pledged to spend at least 2% of its national GDP on defense from 2024, in line with NATO's target.
“With Zeitenwende, Germany becomes a mature country in terms of security policy,” said Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
He called the document Berlin's response to a new reality where a full-scale Russian war in Ukraine in 2022 has unleashed war in Europe and raised the threat level, fundamentally changing the role of Germany and the Bundeswehr.
“As the most populous and economically powerful country in the heart of Europe, Germany must be the pillar of deterrence and collective defence in Europe,” Pistorius said. German forces, he said, needed to refocus on their core mission – the reliable defence of Germany and its allies – and be “combat-ready”.
Mr Pistorius admitted that turning things around would take time and that the Bundeswehr would still be forced to prioritise the near future after "decades of neglect" in which necessary military structures and capabilities had been abandoned.
But he cited Berlin's commitment to permanently deploy a combat brigade to Lithuania, Germany's first, as a beacon for the Zeitenwende project and evidence that his country is stepping up to its new role.
Just as Germany, as a frontline state in the Cold War, benefited from allied troop deployments, Germany's partners now expect Berlin to live up to its responsibilities and show leadership, Pistorius wrote in an editorial in the Tagesspiegel daily.
Mai Van (according to Reuters)
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