Russia as enemy number 1, agility and manpower growing: Berlin formalizes its military strategy

Germany must arm itself with the largest conventional army in Europe. Former Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz first formulated this objective in the aftermath of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The idea was picked up by his Christian Democratic successor Friedrich Merz, who has been in office for nearly a year now. Defense Minister under both leaders, Boris Pistorius, unveiled the public part of the strategic roadmap to achieve this on Wednesday.

This work, unprecedented in Germany since 1945, explores the scenarios of threats facing the EU’s leading economic power and how the German army plans to counter them, leading to human and material needs. It marks the revolution of an army long neglected after the end of the Cold War and now equipped with exceptional financial resources to catch up. The bulk of the reflections remain secret, “otherwise, we could simply add Vladimir Putin to our email distribution list,” the minister joked at the presentation in Berlin.