Germany stepped up to new European security demands, as Frank Walter’s President Steinmeyer marked a 70-year NATO membership against the Trump administration’s background, which showed that his country signaled US defense priorities elsewhere.
“I think I’m in a critical position today when Putin’s war on Ukraine is totally furious and the US is putting a lot of pressure on its European ally, Germany,” Steinmeyer said.
“Germany was being called, and we heard the call. We got the message. In fact, Mark, you can count on us,” he said.
At the same location in February, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses told Ukraine’s Western supporters, most of whom are NATO members.
Apart from the security challenges the US believes are being raised by China, Hegseth said the US is also “focusing on the security of our own borders.”
He wants to know that his remarks by members of the new NATO Trump administration have led to Germany and other allies becoming unstable, and that many US troops could be drawn from Europe.
The US military withdrawal plan has not been officially announced.
Hegus also added a warning that Ukraine will not reclaim all its territory from Russia and will not be allowed to participate in the Security Alliance.
NATO leaders have always argued that membership should only be discussed between allies and candidates and that Moscow cannot speak out, but recently it has been a tip for negotiations at talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine.
NATO was established in 1949 by the then Soviet Union as a breakwater against European attacks.
Former West Germany sought protection as the 15th member on May 6, 1955. This is because concerns have risen about the Soviet Army being east of the Iron Curtain.
Seven decades later, the threat from Moscow will last, and the next coalition of Germany has an ambitious plan to loosen strict debt rules for higher defence spending to strengthen the country’s long-standing military.
The resigning government created a special 100 billion euro fund to modernize it, helping Berlin achieve NATO’s goal of spending 2% of its GDP.
“We strive to make Germany both military and infrastructure the backbone of Europe’s traditional defense,” Steinmeier said.
Within the cave-based atrium leading to NATO meeting rooms and national offices, he praised the decision of the allies to recognize West Germany as a member, saying that NATO leaders hope that they can demonstrate similar “strategic wisdom, as the path from today looks more uncertain than it was back then.”
According to Steinmeier, the challenge is to maintain values such as democracy and the rule of law as much as protecting the territory.
“We all know that these were attacked not only from the outside, but also from within,” he said.
