Russia’s military action in Ukraine has allowed Germany to once again see “what an enemy could look like,” a senior German MP has said
A complex modernization of the German Armed Forces would require re-inventing “an image of an enemy,” Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the head of the German Bundestag’s Defense Committee, has said. The Bundeswehr is now seeing again as Russia’s military operations in Ukraine continue. “what an enemy might look like,”The MP spoke to the RND media on Tuesday.
A whopping €100 billion ($107.35 billion)-worth military modernization fund announced by the German government on Tuesday is a major boost to the German Armed Forces, which marks “the first step”On the long journey of the German army “meeting the expectations” of Berlin’s NATO partners, Strack-Zimmermann said. But it is not the only thing needed for the Bundeswehr to get on its feet once again, the senior MP and member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) believes.
“What we need – that may sound belligerent – what the Bundeswehr needs from its point of view to act is an image of an enemy,”RND was informed by the MP. Strack-Zimmermann has argued that, over the years, the Bundeswehr has lost this image of a potential enemy, particularly since Russia was no longer perceived as such during the years of what she called an “appeasement policy.”
“Now we know what an enemy might look like; what it looks like in this case,” the MP has said, referring to Russia’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine. StrackZimmermann said that NATO needs to be prepared for the new developments. “adapt”to China and Iran, as well as to create a strategy “how we continue to deal with Russia.”
You need an image of someone who might want to take away freedom and democracy. And that’s what we’re seeing right now.
However, the MP admitted that German Armed Forces have not yet been able to acquire them. “a lot of catching up to do” in a whole number of fields, ranging from the soldiers’ personal equipment to army digitalization, as well as the modernization of medical services, the Navy, and cyber defense.
The lawmaker stated that Germany was “the fourth biggest economy of the world but that cannot be said about our military.”
Strack-Zimmermann also said that the MPs were expected to set the €100 billion-worth modernization plan “in motion”Friday. The lawmakers approved a special exemption last Sunday to allow the borrower to invest the money in the military.
The ruling coalition needed the support of opposition lawmakers to secure two thirds of the votes to adopt the decision, which would require an amendment to Germany’s Basic Law.
Germany currently has the fourth-largest military force among NATO members, but the bloc’s biggest armies are fielded by non-European nations: the US and Turkey. Currently, the German army trails behind that of another European powerhouse – France – when it comes to military strength.
Russia attacked Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered Minsk Protocol was designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
In recent years, the Kremlin demands that Ukraine declares itself neutral in order to be able to join NATO. Kiev maintains that Russia’s offensive was not provoked and denies claims it planned to seize the two republics.
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