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Federal Defense Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer calls for greater responsibility for Europe in the world. But he rejects the independence of the United States: “The idea of a strategic autonomy for Europe goes too far.”
In a keynote address on security policy, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer re-emphasized the importance of the United States as an ally. “We continue to depend on the United States for security policy, and at the same time, as Europeans, we have to do more than the Americans have taken from us so far,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said.
“The idea of a strategic autonomy for Europe goes too far if it fuels the illusion that we can guarantee security, stability and prosperity in Europe without NATO and without the United States,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said in the video address to Helmut. Schmidt University of the Bundeswehr.
With this, Kramp-Karrenbauer repeated the phrases she had written in a guest post shortly before the US presidential elections in early November and for which French President Emmanuel Macron had recently criticized her. “I think it is a misinterpretation of history,” Macron said, referring to Kramp-Karrenbauer’s rejection of a strategic independence for Europe.
The United States remains an important ally
In her speech, however, the Defense Minister also emphasized that she saw no contradiction between a close transatlantic relationship and a strengthening of European ownership in the defense sector. However, the United States remained an important ally.
He noted that so far about 75 percent of all NATO capabilities have been provided by the U.S. To fully offset this, the costs on the German side would be much higher than the much-discussed NATO commitment to spend the two percent of gross domestic product in defense.
Association at eye level
“Without the nuclear and conventional capabilities of the United States, Germany and Europe cannot protect themselves. Those are the serious facts,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said. However, it is even more important that Europe is a “strong partner at eye level” for the United States and “not a needy protégé,” the minister warned to strengthen German and European defense contributions. “The United States will only do it if we are serious about our own security,” he said.
In this he agreed with French President Macron, he added, with a view to different accents in the distribution of roles between the United States and Europe in recent days.
“Our security is threatened”
Specifically, the minister asked for a joint offer from the Europeans to the next US administration under President-elect Joe Biden. From the German point of view, this includes “that we develop our defense skills and, to do so, we reliably strengthen defense budgets, even in the Corona period.” A “defense planning law” should stipulate this in the long term.
Major new projects should not be done at the expense of the core team. The end of the Cold War did not lead to a comprehensive peace, but “our security, our prosperity, our peaceful coexistence are threatened in real terms,” the minister warned. He referred to the challenges posed by Russia’s weaponry, new attacks on the Western model of open society, the risk of drone wars such as the one between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and cyberattacks from different sides.
Insecurity in NATO
At the same time, there are also uncertainties within NATO. “How trustworthy is the United States of America? Can we Europeans trust each other when it matters?” Asked Kramp-Karrenbauer, referring to the experiences of recent years. He also mentioned Turkey as a “difficult ally”. Regarding the defense budget, “a realistic and critical view” of the world as it is is important, “the minister said.
