Since Trump’s speech, there have been great doubts about the reliability of the USA as a NATO partner. SPD European candidate Barley is therefore bringing the EU’s own atomic bombs into play. A party member criticizes that this is extremely dangerous.
The SPD’s top candidate for the European elections, Katarina Barley, sparked a controversial debate with a statement about the EU’s own nuclear bombs. On the way to a European army, “this could also become an issue,” she told the Tagesspiegel. Because “in view of Donald Trump’s recent statements” about NATO, the US’s nuclear protection “can no longer be relied upon.”
Currently, the nuclear deterrent for Europe lies with NATO, said Barley. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg correctly remarked that it was still in the US’s interest to “provide this significantly.”
Trump introduces NATODuty of assistance in question
Former US President Trump indicated at a campaign appearance at the weekend that he would not protect NATO partners who did not invest enough in defense from Russia in an emergency. He even wants to encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want.”
This questioning of NATO’s obligation to provide assistance triggered a wave of indignation from Washington to Brussels to Berlin – especially since Trump wants to run for the office of US President again in November. The obligation to provide assistance is regulated in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. It stipulates that in the event of an attack on a NATO country, the allies must provide all forms of assistance in order to “restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.”
Lindner wants talks with Paris and London
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner called for the strategic nuclear forces of France and Great Britain to be further considered as an “element of European security under the umbrella of NATO.” In a guest article for the FAZ (Wednesday), the FDP politician wrote that the security of Europe and that of North America are inextricably linked through nuclear sharing.
Nuclear sharing stipulates that NATO states without nuclear weapons will also be protected by the nuclear powers within NATO. According to Lindner, the question now arises under what political and financial conditions Paris and London would be prepared to maintain or expand their own strategic capabilities for collective security.
France is currently the only EU country with nuclear weapons since Britain left the EU. Paris had offered other EU partners talks about a European nuclear deterrent. Lindner emphasized that Germany also had to ask itself what contribution it was willing to make. As long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, Europe will have to stick to a system of nuclear deterrence in order not to be left defenseless against the blackmail of authoritarian states.
Union demands clarification from Scholz
The Union faction demanded that Chancellor Olaf Scholz take a position on Barley’s statements about possible EU nuclear weapons. “Since this statement comes from the former Justice Minister and the SPD’s recently elected top candidate, Chancellor Scholz must ensure clarity,” said Union parliamentary group vice-president Johann Wadephul (CDU) to the “Tagesspiegel”. “Is that the position of the federal government and his party?”
Wadephul further asked: “How is this supposed to be realized given Germany’s international legal obligations?” The CDU politician also wanted to know whether this had been agreed with France, which already has nuclear weapons. “Does the Chancellor think that the deterrence of American weapons can be replaced by a comparable EU arsenal?”
Stegner speaks of “More dangerous Escalation”
Barley’s statements also met with criticism within the party. The SPD foreign policy expert Ralf Stegner described the push for common European nuclear weapons as an “extremely dangerous escalation.” He told the Tagesspiegel: “There is no need for a European nuclear power – it would be the opposite of European security.”
Left leader Marin Schirdewan accused the SPD of “saber rattling”. “The right answer to Trump’s nonsense is not nuclear armament, but a policy of de-escalation and civil conflict resolution,” said the Left’s leading candidate for the European elections to the AFP news agency. “More atomic bombs will not make the world safer,” said Schirdewan. “On the contrary, with all the atomic bombs that currently exist, you can wipe out the world more than 150 times.”
“Deterrence includes nuclear weapons”
However, the CSU’s top candidate for the European elections, Manfred Weber, appeared open to a European nuclear umbrella. “Europe must become so militarily strong that no one wants to compete with us,” he told BILD. “This means we need deterrence. Deterrence includes nuclear weapons.”
The current structure with the two nuclear powers France and Great Britain is not enough for the CSU politician. French President Emmanuel Macron has already made a vague offer to talk about the importance of French nuclear forces for Europe. “Now that Donald Trump is openly questioning the role of the USA as a protective power would be the right moment for this,” emphasized Weber.