German Defense Minister: The free world must stand up to tyrants
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the Munich Security Conference that started, Friday, should provide momentum for the unity of the free and democratic world to continue supporting Ukraine.
Pistorius told the German media in comments provided to the German News Agency (DPA) before publication that this would be the most important signal that could come out of the security summit.
He considered that Russia’s war against Ukraine worries everyone “because it will encourage tyrants and dictators in this world to do something similar if Putin escapes punishment”.
Pistorius also criticized his Social Democratic Party colleague Katarina Barli for initiating a discussion on the possibility of the European Union developing its own independent nuclear deterrent.
He said, “We’ve the nuclear deterrent for the Americans, which was agreed upon, and I don’t see any signs that this agreement is approaching its end”.
However, Pistorius urged caution regarding former US President Donald Trump.
He referred to his comments regarding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), saying, “We must stand up to its threats on the one hand, but on the other hand we must not allow ourselves to be misled by what we need to do in Europe”.
Pistorius stressed that it is not a new idea that Europe must do more to defend itself, but this is now also happening within the framework of NATO.
