Why Germany’s new security strategy matters for Europe’s defence
Battle plans
After months of delays and disagreements, the German cabinet will today unveil its first-ever national security strategy in a bid to avoid a repeat of the blind spots that led to the country’s deep economic dependence on Russia, writes Laura Pitel.
Context: Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised a Zeitenwende — a historic shift in Germany’s approach to defence and security — in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which sent shockwaves through a country that had taken peace and security in Europe for granted since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The plan to create a national security strategy predates the war in Ukraine, but the Russian attack gave new impetus to the idea as Europe’s largest economy was forced to confront the way that its addiction to Russian gas had left it — and the rest of the continent — vulnerable to the weaponisation of energy by Putin.
Scholz and other senior members of his three-way coalition will hail the birth of the strategy as a milestone.
“The process itself has been a success because it means every ministry was forced to review its own policy under a security umbrella,” said a senior German official. “It’s a clarification for us, for our allies and also our adversaries — so that they know what the red lines are.”
But the process has been marred by disagreements within Scholz’s fractious government. The idea of creating a national security council to drive a sharper, faster decision-making has been axed after a power struggle between Scholz and his Green foreign minister Annalena Baerbock.
The government also remains profoundly divided on the question of China, including how to tackle the deep reliance of the German motor and chemicals industries on the Chinese market. A separate China strategy, due to be published later this year, has faced endless wrangling of its own.
Critics say the national security strategy is a good idea but will most likely end up being a missed opportunity. “It took months and months of delays to agree,” says Norbert Röttgen, a senior member of the Bundestag with the opposition CDU. “[But] on substance they have agreed on the lowest common denominator.”