Before the Munich Security Conference began, its chair Wolfgang Ischinger urged a stronger sense of European confidence. Speaking to T‑Online on Thursday, he said Europe must speak with one voice, consolidate its armaments efforts and eventually do away with the unanimity principle in the EU so that it can act more decisively.
“The Europeans have heard the shot. They do not want to sit on the reserve bank forever” he added. “The agenda is clear. I hope the parties in charge can move from the kind of invocations we have already heard to real decisions. Munich would be an appropriate setting for that”.
Ischinger stressed that greater European unity is especially needed in dealings with Russia. “We are not taken seriously – and that is the bitter reality. For example, President Emmanuel Macron has even sent a foreign‑policy adviser to Moscow, and the Russians are mocking us. The Russian side currently does not want to talk with us. That is why Chancellor Friedrich Merz is right in saying that there is no great gain for us at present, which is a disconcerting conclusion”.
While calling for more security‑policy autonomy for the EU, he rejected the idea of a German nuclear weapon. “Doing so would break Germany’s own international obligations under the Non‑Proliferation Treaty and the Two‑Plus‑Four Treaty. It could cause upheaval in Europe and severely shake the principle of nuclear non‑proliferation” he argued. “Instead of acting in a united front against Russia, our neighbours might use this as an opportunity to build counter‑balances against Germany. Until all other options have been exhausted, I deem this a serious mistake”.