The German Chancellor defends deployment of US missiles in Germany
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended plans to deploy US missiles with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers in his country with what he described as the threat coming from Russia, saying, “This is part of deterrence and guarantees peace… It’s a necessary and important decision that was taken at the right time”.
On the sidelines of the NATO summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Washington, “We know that there is a massive armament in the Russia with weapons that threaten European territory”.
On Thursday, Scholz added that over a long period, how to respond to this challenge has been discussed, along with the umbrella of NATO nuclear protection with traditional deterrence.
Scholz revealed that the deployment of long-range weapons was endorsed in the first national security strategy of the Federal Republic of Germany a year ago, adding, “That is why the decision of the United States is fully in line with this strategy that we have discussed publicly for a long time”.
For the first time since the Cold War, the United States plans to redeploy weapons systems in Germany up to Russia, the White House and the German government agreed on Wednesday.
The Russian capital Moscow is located at a distance of a direct air route of 1,600 kilometers from the German capital Berlin.
From 2026, Tomahawk cruise missiles, SM6 air defense missiles – and other newly developed hypersonic weapons – are expected to better protect NATO allies in Europe.
The resolution brought back the memory of the Cold War.
In the 80’s, as a young politician in the Social Democrats, Scholz himself protested a dual NATO decision that included, among other things, the deployment of Pershing-2 medium-range missiles that were withdrawn back after the end of the Cold War until 1991.
Asked if he expected there to be significant opposition to the return of such long-range weapons to Germany, including from within his Socialist Party, Scholz said, “This decision was prepared a long time ago, and this won’t be a real surprise for everyone who engages in security and peace policies”.
The German chancellor noted that the decision to deploy the US missiles in Germany is fully in line with the German federal government’s publicly discussed security strategy.
Robert Habeck, German Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz and economy minister, welcomed the deployment of long-range US weapons systems in Germany.
In remarks to the German newspaper “Neue Westffleich” to be published in its edition on Friday, Habek said: “Armament isn’t something that I deal with lightly, but I think the US decision to deploy our long-range weapons is necessary”.
“We must strengthen our ability to defend because we live in a very dangerous time that is different from the eighties… Therefore, naivety is unacceptable,” Habeck said.
Habeck added that demonstrations against NATO’s double resolutions in 1981 were during the Cold War period, “Now we are witnessing a hot war in Ukraine where bombing and death”.
It’s noteworthy that the Biden administration and the German government agreed on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington on Wednesday that the United States will for the first time since the Cold War from 2026 redeploy weapons systems in Germany up to Russia.
