Former Federal Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has called on the European Union (EU) to build up its military base, including nuclear weapons. “We must restore our deterrence capability,” said the former Green politician Time online in an interview published on Sunday.
To justify this, Fischer referred to the threat posed by Russia under President Vladimir Putin. “The EU needs its own nuclear deterrent,” said Fischer. A reference to the nuclear arsenal of Great Britain and France “as a response to the changed situation would be too simple and too brief.”
Fischer also made it clear that the required effort “cannot be achieved with a debt brake and balanced budgets”. “The world has changed, Putin is also working with nuclear blackmail,” said Fischer, who was Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of the red-green federal government from 1998 to 2005.
He hopes that America and Europe remain connected. “But what will happen if Donald Trump is re-elected? Even with this scenario in mind, Europe must seriously ask itself the question,” said Fischer about nuclear armament. According to him, the priority should be the deterrence capability in the conventional area. “That is the lesson that Ukraine teaches us,” said Fischer. “Ukraine urgently needs effective air defense. And we as Europe urgently need effective air defense. We have to do this together. We also have to be able to deter and defend ourselves against cyber aggression.”
The Berlin political scientist Herfried Münkler also advises Europe to arm itself with nuclear weapons in order to be better protected against wars. In one Interview with the magazine star he says: “We need a common suitcase with a red button that travels between large EU countries.” A spiral of rearmament has long been underway that Europe cannot escape.