Germany bound to non-nuclear defence

10/3/2025 6:30

German Chancellor-in-waiting

Friedrich Merz on Sunday said he would like talks with France

and Britain about sharing their nuclear weapons, but not as a

substitute for U.S. nuclear protection of Europe.



"Sharing nuclear weapons is an issue that we need to talk

about ... we have to become stronger together in nuclear

deterrence," he said in an interview on Deutschlandfunk radio, a

day after agreeing cornerstones of a coalition deal between his

conservative party and the Social Democratic SPD party.



"We should talk with both countries (France and Britain),

always also from the perspective of supplementing the American

nuclear shield, which we of course want to see maintained."



Germany, due to its Second World War past, has bound itself

to non-nuclear defence in a number of international treaties but

participates in NATO weapons-sharing arrangements.



At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, EU leaders backed plans

to spend more on defence amid fears that Russia, emboldened by

its war in Ukraine, may attack an EU country next and that

Europe can no longer rely on the U.S. to come to its aid.



Merz's tougher stance on security and migration reflects a

changing political landscape, where the far-right Alternative

for Germany (AfD) has surged to become the country's

second-largest party.



Germany's plans to tighten migration laws did not clash with

pan-European migration rules to be introduced by Brussels, Merz

said.



"We want European solidarity...but Germany also naturally

has a right to defend its own security and order," he said.



Merz has said he wants to form a coalition by Easter and

said he would press for the outgoing parliament to pass two

major financial packages on infrastructure and defence and

changes to state borrowing rules known as the 'debt brake'.



Merz and the SPD crucially need support from the Green Party

to pass the measures, and Merz on Saturday said there would be

intensive talks with the Greens this week.



"We will integrate climate protection measures (in those

packages)," Merz said in the radio interview.



In a position paper, Green Party ministers said they wanted

to see a bigger proportion of funds in the financial packages

going to states and municipalities, and money for defence

ring-fenced, if they were to support the plans.