German president: New government's top priority must be strengthening armed forces

BERLIN

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier declared Monday that strengthening the country's armed forces must be the new government's top priority, given the escalating global threats.

“Today, a badly armed Germany is a greater threat to Europe than a strongly armed Germany,” Steinmeier said at NATO headquarters in Brussels, during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO.

Steinmeier emphasized that Russia's war on Ukraine, along with US President Donald Trump's stance toward Europe, has created an urgent need for Germany to shoulder more responsibility for European defense, while maintaining military support for Ukraine.

“An era is ending, and a new era is beginning – one that certainly doesn’t look rosy so far,” Steinmeier said.

“We need a strong military – not in order to wage war, but to prevent it. And, as a former diplomat let me add: Our foreign policy needs a strong military, too – not to replace diplomacy, but to make it credible,” he stressed.