BERLIN

Germany is strengthening its armed forces with advanced weapons and additional personnel "to be taken seriously" in a changed international situation amid the Russian threat, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a joint news conference with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen in Vienna, Steinmeier sought to address concerns over Berlin's plans to significantly increase defense spending and military personnel.

“We are not doing this with the intention of waging war in the future, but quite the opposite,” he said. “We must strengthen security in order to be taken seriously in a changed international situation, and I have the impression that we are well on the way to achieving this,” he stressed.

The veteran politician, who served as foreign minister from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2016, stressed that Germany had to adopt a new defense and foreign policy due to Russia's assertive actions and war in Ukraine.

“It was not our wish to decisively change the security architecture in Europe. It was the Russian aggression, beginning with the annexation of Crimea (in 2014), and ultimately decisively with the Russian invasion of Ukraine (in 2022), that brought down this European security architecture,” the German president said.

“We must reposition ourselves. We know that the war is taking place in Ukraine, but that there is a Russian threat to freedom and democracy throughout Europe, and we must prepare for this in terms of security policy. That means significantly strengthening our military capabilities.”