Wolfgang Ischinger, chair of the Munich Security Conference, urged Germany and the rest of Europe to launch a comprehensive Middle‑East initiative in response to the U.S.-Israeli conflict against Iran. He said that rather than “stubbornly” react to President Donald Trump’s war and thus “unnecessarily provoke” the head of state, Europe should collaborate with partners to develop a “security order” for the post‑Iran war era.
Ischinger proposed that this effort involve Turkey and countries in the Arab and Asian neighbourhood. He cited the former Afghanistan conference held at Bonn’s Petersberg as a possible model if Germany and Europe want to be taken seriously.
He pointed out that declaring the conflict “not our war” merely serves to shrink Europe’s strategic scope. “That is how we do not bring Europe back onto the global map of influential powers” the MSC head said. Although he acknowledged that the war is not Europe’s, he stressed that the conflict impacts European interests just as much as the Ukraine war does, implying that Europe cannot simply observe from the sidelines.
Separately, Metin Hakverdi, the German government’s transatlantic coordinator (SPD), called for “healthy self‑confidence” in relations with the United States. “We do not have to agree with the U.S. president on everything” Hakverdi told the RND. He agreed that the conflict is “not our war” yet insisted that it clearly affects Germany and Europe. “We have an interest in keeping the Strait of Hormuz free” he said. Germany could engage diplomatically or through “industrial cooperation, for example in air defence, with Gulf states”.