16.01.2023, Berlin.
The USA is our most important partner, the French are the closest, said German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the annual Munich International Conference on Security, Die Welt newspaper wrote on January 15.
According to the German diplomat, not only but especially for the sake of Ukraine, a long-term US presence on the European continent is still needed. Ischinger explained that Europe needs to explain to the US voter why an alliance with Europeans is important for the USA too.
The politician warns that there will be accusations in the USA that the Europeans are still spongers in security policy. No one in Washington will understand why, despite the “turn of era” and despite the announced additional 100 billion euros from special funds, Germany’s defense budget is stagnating.
The Americans will not understand why the previously set goals in terms of financing the armed forces have not been achieved and why the previously planned military maneuvers cannot be carried out without significant reductions. Ischinger notes that Americans are currently spending more military and financial resources on Ukraine than all Europeans together.
The diplomat notes that Germany and Europe, based on their own interests, would do well to take a more active part in building up their military capabilities. Ischinger recalls that the coalition agreement of the German government states that it is necessary to “increase the strategic sovereignty of Europe,” but no concrete actions in this direction have been taken so far.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
