Berlin Right at the beginning there is a lot of praise: US President Joe Biden has shown extraordinary leadership in the face of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and has united NATO, the West and the EU, says Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. Biden let the world know that America was back – and now everyone can see what that means.
At the start of her trip to the USA, Lambrecht took around 50 minutes on Tuesday to talk to the Atlantic Council think tank about the “turning point” in Germany. There is a lot to explain: why Germany, which has always held back militarily, citing its historical guilt, is suddenly rearming and wants to play a more prominent role internationally. What is the deal with the purchase of US-made F35 fighter jets? And why Germany could not initially offer Ukraine more than 5000 helmets.
For three days Lambrecht is in the States on a “mission impossible”. She has to make it clear how much Germany supports Ukraine without being able to talk about specific arms deliveries. It must promote a stronger European defense component without the Americans seeing this as a departure from NATO.
Lambrecht is little known in the States
Last but not least, she must also sharpen her own profile after there was much criticism of her administration in the first 100 days of the new government. According to a new Allensbach survey commissioned by the Center for Strategy and Higher Management, only 16 percent of citizens attest that Lambrecht is doing a good job. However, a large proportion of those surveyed did not know the Minister of Defense at all.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
In the United States, the SPD politician is likely to be even less well known. The New York Times recently introduced her, along with Secretary of State Annalena Baerbock and Secretary of the Interior Nancy Faeser, as part of the trio of women responsible for Germany’s internal and external security. The three women are “frontline fighters for the cultural and strategic revolution in their country,” the newspaper wrote.
Lambrecht’s job at the moment is to make this revolution in America believable, both when meeting members of Congress and when talking to her US counterpart Lloyd Austin. On Thursday she will visit the United Nations headquarters in New York and speak to Secretary-General António Guterres.
Everywhere she is trying to prove that the US and the western world could rely on the German ally. After repeated criticism from Kyiv that Germany was doing too little or that promised weapons had not yet arrived, Lambrecht dared to go astonishingly far: If she is not mistaken, the Federal Republic is now the second largest supplier of arms, she said at the event Atlantic Council.
Germany is one of the three largest arms suppliers to Ukraine
When asked, her ministry said that Germany was one of the top three countries when it came to arms deliveries to Ukraine. “This shows that, despite our own legitimate needs, we are doing everything we can to provide Ukraine with the best possible support and are constantly examining what further support can be given,” said a spokesman. This is “an ongoing process”.
It is known that Germany supplied anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, machine guns and ammunition. Because the Bundeswehr’s inventories are empty, the federal government has also contacted the manufacturers directly, which they can deliver quickly. Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has promised that the Federal Security Council will then ensure that the exports are approved quickly.
Read more about the planned upgrade of the Bundeswehr here:
According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, the government now has an armaments list with around 200 products with a total value of around 300 million dollars. Among other things, bazookas, mortars, night vision devices, automatic cannons, radar systems and armored vehicles are said to be on it. However, Lambrecht said in the discussion at the Atlantic Council that Germany would not supply any tanks.
Possible object on the Bundeswehr shopping list.
(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
In the USA, however, there is also talk of American arms deliveries – to Germany. The government has already announced that the Bundeswehr will purchase F35 jets from the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin for “nuclear sharing”. Only the US suppliers Sikorsky and Boeing are still in the running for the urgently needed heavy transport helicopter.
The Bundeswehr could also buy radio equipment and reconnaissance drones from the Americans – or a missile defense system. While Lambrecht was on his way to the USA, a delegation from the Defense Committee in Israel was presented with the Arrow 3 missile defense system – an Israeli-American development.
>> Read here: “Iron Dome” and Arrow 3 – Answers to the most important questions about missile defense for Germany
Lambrecht also makes it clear that the Bundeswehr does not only want to buy from across the Atlantic, but also relies on European manufacturers for projects such as the combat aircraft of the future (FCAS) or the Euro drone. A strong defense industry and the ability to develop modern armaments are needed in Europe. A calming pill for the French partners and the domestic armaments industry that Germany will not withdraw from joint projects like FCAS despite billions in arms purchases in the USA.
In Washington, Lambrecht also emphasized Germany’s contribution to strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. The Bundeswehr will be taking part in the Alliance’s rapid reaction force with a total of 15,000 soldiers next year. However, the minister also defended the establishment of a separate European intervention force. This is not intended as a competitor to NATO, but as a supplement.
And the American taxpayers, who transferred many dollars for common security, could rely on the fact that the Germans would now also contribute more euros, promises the minister, referring to the planned EUR 100 billion special fund and the promise to spend two percent of economic output on defense every year from now on. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) described both as a “turning point”.
The planned army division should be operational as early as 2025
As proof that Germany is serious about making a stronger contribution to NATO, Lambrecht states that the planned army division should be ready for action by 2025 – two years before the originally planned date. Overall, Germany is to get three full army divisions again in order to be able to get more involved in national and alliance defense.
The former inspector general of the Bundeswehr, Klaus Naumann, recently mocked the fact that Germany, as the largest economy in Europe, proudly announced that it wanted to have three army divisions ready for action again by 2032. “When I gave up my position as Inspector General in 1996, we had 14 army divisions,” said Naumann in an interview with the Handelsblatt.
>> Read the interview with Klaus Naumann here: “You have to stop staring spellbound at the snake Putin”
In view of such statements, there are fears among the Greens, but also in Lambrecht’s own party, that the pendulum in the country of the peace movement and Easter marches could now swing in the other direction and massive rearmament in Germany is threatened – combined with a more self-confident international appearance. Lambrecht also sent these skeptics a message from Washington: “There will be,” she says, “no militarization of German politics.”
More: The Ukraine war unites America – and is becoming a problem for Trump