A senior official of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, has criticized the lack of attention to foreign and security policy in the German election campaign.
“I find it astonishing that the security policy situation has been largely ignored in the election campaign so far” Ischinger told the online news portal T-Online. “Apparently, no party and no top candidate is willing to inform the voters that our free ride in trust on the security of America is coming to an end and we need to invest enormous sums to become defense-capable again.”
When asked if CDU leader Friedrich Merz could make the German military combat-ready as Chancellor, Ischinger replied, “In principle, yes, because the oath of office sets the goal of averting harm to the German people.” However, he emphasized that the decisive factor would be the coalition Merz would form.
Ischinger expressed deep concern about the transatlantic alliance. “Over many decades, it was sometimes troubled, but never in question. However, the events of recent times have unfortunately severely disrupted the trust.”
Regarding the threat from Russia, Ischinger acknowledged that the discussions at the Munich Security Conference had achieved little. “Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, we have been speaking in ever-new attempts of the necessary wake-up call for Europe, to consider the consequences. Apart from a lot of paper and pious speeches, however, nothing has happened” Ischinger said. “Perhaps it really takes a genuine electric shock to make Europe take responsibility for the old continent and start taking security policy seriously.”
A European army, he believes, is currently unrealistic. “I found it moving that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the Munich Security Conference called on us Europeans to build a European army” Ischinger said. “However, I fear that the vision, as beautiful as it is, will remain a vision for a long time.”
Instead, Europe should strengthen its defense industry: “The end of small-state mentality would be achieved if armaments were produced, bought and maintained jointly. The training of soldiers should also become a joint effort. This way, we could save hundreds of billions of euros per year and use the money differently.