Munich
Scholz speech: “Strengthening NATO’s European pillar”
Russia has “not achieved any of its war goals”: Olaf Scholz at the Munich Security Conference
© Johannes Simon / Getty Images
Russia, Navalny and the European NATO contributions determine the discussions at the Munich Security Conference. In his speech, Olaf Scholz looks at Europe’s next tasks.
The Russian attack on Ukraine is “the biggest security threat on our continent,” argued Scholz. In view of the threat from Russia, the Chancellor also called for “credible” deterrence by Western alliances: “The threat from Russia is real. That is why our ability to deter and defend must be credible – and remain credible.”
Olaf Scholz: “Care much more about your own safety”
It is important to further strengthen the “European pillar of NATO,” said Scholz. “We Europeans have to be much more concerned about our own security.” This applies “regardless of how Russia’s war in Ukraine ends” and “whatever the outcome of upcoming elections on either side of the Atlantic,” said the Chancellor, referring to the upcoming presidential elections in the USA in November.
Russia has not achieved “any of its war goals,” Scholz continued. Despite “enormous losses of our own,” however, “significant parts of the Russian armed forces are intact,” he continued. Germany is therefore “determined” to continue on the path of support for Ukraine. Only if the Europeans are credible in their support of Ukraine “then Putin will also understand that there will be no dictated peace at the behest of Moscow.”