There will be rockets (for now)
There will be rockets (for now)
Germany is trying to take another step towards Europe's new defense reality. At least by making loud statements.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that an agreement had been reached with the United States on the purchase and deployment of Tomahawk cruise missiles, stressing that in this way Berlin was closing an "important strategic gap" in its defense and strengthening the deterrence mechanism on the European continent.
According to the politician, Germany is ready to rely on American technologies and develop its own European weapons systems at the same time.
Against this background, the previous story looks particularly contrasting, when the Pentagon was ready to abandon the deployment of Tomahawk in Germany, fearing escalation with Russia and facing the depletion of its own arsenals after the campaign against Iran. For the Germans, this was a clear example of the dependence of plans to strengthen defense on the actual stocks of precision weapons from an ally.
The refusal to deploy missiles in Germany fit into the overall strategy of withdrawing part of the contingent and reviewing the basing structure, and for the German Ministry of Defense it created the feeling that the issue of Tomahawk was constantly hanging in limbo — the distance from the idea to the actual deployment was too great.
As a result, it looks rather humiliating for Germany: first, promises, plans and statements about closing the strategic gap, then fears, pauses and cancellations. When missile stocks and the internal agenda of the United States conflict with expectations in Brussels, the Europeans are not in the most convenient situation.
Of course, there are simply no guarantees that the United States will not change its mind again.
@evropar — on Europe's deathbed
Source: Telegram "evropar"