Relief at NATO. On the eve of the Alliance Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Riga, Latvia, Tuesday 30 November and Wednesday 1is December, the coalition contract of the future German government, unveiled on November 26, somewhat reassured the allies.
Of course, Germany has indicated its intention to attend, as an observer, the first conference of the States parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (Tian), considered by NATO as an “unsuitable” approach. In relation to the nuclear disarmament negotiations. Of course, the 30 member countries of the Alliance may fear that this decision will encourage other states to do the same, and therefore divide NATO.
But the new German government has indicated above all that it will continue its participation in the “nuclear sharing” mission, that is to say in NATO’s nuclear deterrence program. The American bombs will therefore remain stationed at the Büchel air base (Rhineland-Palatinate). The coalition made up of the SPD, the Greens and the Liberals, moreover, undertook to validate, from the start of the legislature, the replacement of the Tornado fighter planes which ensure German nuclear participation.
« The pursuit of nuclear sharing is a fundamental commitment which does not go without saying within the social democrats ”, assures Paul Maurice, researcher at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri). ” Registering the replacement of the Tornado at the start of the legislature is a way of putting behind them a potentially heated debate in order to be able to move on to other questions. »
Germany has been part of NATO and its nuclear deterrence program since 1955. The deployment of American nuclear warheads on its soil works according to the principle of the “double key”: in the event of conflict, the American president makes the decision. and forwards it to allies who may accept or refuse to provide personnel and carry capabilities.
Dual-capacity German Tornado fighter jets perform this mission but their certification expires in 2030. Last year, Christian Democrat Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer proposed as a transitional solution the purchase of 93 Eurofighter, supplemented by 43 F-18 Super Hornet, before the European Air Combat System of the Future (SCAF) takes over in 2040.
Unsurprisingly, given the lack of enthusiasm of the German political class, the target of devoting 2% of GDP to defense spending, set at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales, is not included in the plan. coalition agreement. ” Apart from the observer status in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TIAN), the coalition contract is a promising political text, says Claudia Major, researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Policy. But we have to wait for the first political decisions and the next budget to know what the new government will do with them in the future.has practice. »
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