In an extraordinary development, German chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that his country will rearm in the face of Russian aggression.
This morning, in an extraordinary development — unimaginable just 96 hours ago — German chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that his country will rearm in the face of Russian aggression.
We must put a stop to warmongers like Putin. That requires strength of our own. We want a strong, modern Bundeswehr and we will spend over 2% of our economic output on ensuring it is suitably equipped.
Yes, we fully intend to secure our freedom and our prosperity!— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) February 27, 2022
Germany is Europe’s richest and most powerful nation. Unfortunately, Berlin has been the weak link in the Western alliance for a generation. Since reunification, under Chancellors Kohl, Schröder, and Merkel, Germany’s once-powerful military has atrophied (Americans sometimes forget that, during the Cold War, the West German army was a formidable and important component of NATO’s plan to defend Western Europe).
Every American president this century has asked, begged, cajoled, and pleaded with the Germans to take more responsibility for Europe’s defense. Alas, even during the Obama/Trump/Biden “pivot to Asia,” the Germans have been content to spend a pittance on defense — last year, barely over 1.5 percent of GDP, which is billions and billions of dollars below the NATO-country target of 2 percent of GDP.
What kind of real-world effect has this had on Germany military readiness and hard power?
Just last week, Lieutenant General Alfons Mais, the German army’s chief of staff, wrote in a post on his personal LinkedIn account that “the Bundeswehr, the army which I have the honor to command, is standing there more or less empty-handed.”
The options we can offer the government in support of the alliance are extremely limited. We have all seen it coming but were not able to get through with our arguments to draw the consequences after [Russia’s] annexation of Crimea. This does not feel good. I am fed up with it.
This is not Frederick the Great’s army.
This morning, however, Chancellor Scholz, speaking to the Bundestag, the German parliament, called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “a turning point in the history of our continent” and vowed that Germany will now spend 2 percent of GDP on defense “from now on, every year.”
You can watch the key part of the chancellor’s speech below, translated into English:
“We are not only striving for this goal because we have promised our friends and allies that we will increase our defense spending to 2 percent of our economic output by 2024, but we do this for ourselves, too, for our own safety,” Scholz told the lawmakers.
Scholz also asked the Bundenstag to approve an additional one-off $110 billion infusion of funds into Germany’s military, which is on the order of twice what the country normally spends per year on defense.
Perhaps even more amazingly, the chancellor declared that Germany would “change course” in order to become less dependent on Russian energy imports. Germany will “quickly build” two liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals to facilitate this.
Vladimir Putin may yet win his war in Ukraine. But his actions have, in just four days, overturned the policy Russian leaders have pursued for 75 years: Keep Germany weak, distracted, and disarmed.