In his first New Year’s Eve address since taking office in May, Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany warned Germans on Wednesday that their country’s eight-decade partnership with the United States — the bedrock of Germany’s post-World War II security — is “changing.”
That shift, Mr. Merz said, would require European nations, including Germany, to do more to protect themselves against external threats, including Russia.
“Our partnership with the United States of America, which has long been the reliable guarantor of our security, is changing,” Mr. Merz said in his speech, copies of which were circulated to journalists ahead of its televised broadcast on Wednesday evening. “For us Europeans,” he continued, “this means that we must defend and assert our interests much more strongly by ourselves.”
… Mr. Merz spoke in his speech of the need to “safeguard peace and freedom in Europe,” adding that, “After all, we are seeing more and more clearly that Russia’s aggression was and is part of a plan targeted against the whole of Europe. Germany is also facing sabotage, espionage and cyberattacks on a daily basis.”
Mr. Merz’s words marked a continuation of the government’s policy of preparing Germans, both psychologically and materially, for a new era of greater security risks. Already this year, Germany has removed limits on military spending from its Constitution, allowing the country to spend billions more on arms. And it has begun an initiative to increase the number of German soldiers by nearly 50 percent over the next decade.
Mr. Merz spoke in his speech of the need to “safeguard peace and freedom in Europe,” adding that, “After all, we are seeing more and more clearly that Russia’s aggression was and is part of a plan targeted against the whole of Europe. Germany is also facing sabotage, espionage and cyberattacks on a daily basis.”
Mr. Merz’s words marked a continuation of the government’s policy of preparing Germans, both psychologically and materially, for a new era of greater security risks. Already this year, Germany has removed limits on military spending from its Constitution, allowing the country to spend billions more on arms. And it has begun an initiative to increase the number of German soldiers by nearly 50 percent over the next decade.
“Germany is a great country that has, time and again, reinvented itself, emerged stronger from crises, given rise to new cohesion and offers all of its citizens a livable and lovable home,” he said.
