2023-06-15 15:00:10
The exercise is unprecedented. For the first time since the founding of the Federal Republic in 1949, the German government defined, on Wednesday June 14, a “national security strategy”. Adopted by the Council of Ministers in the morning, it was then presented to the press by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, flanked by four of the main members of his government: Annalena Baerbock (foreign affairs), Christian Lindner (finance), Boris Pistorius (defense) and Nancy Faeser (interior). Since 1978, never have so many ministers been on the platform of the Bundespressekonferenz, the association of journalists responsible for covering German political news.
Developing this “strategy” took longer than expected. Originally, the government wanted to make it public at the annual Munich security conference in mid-February. But differences within the three-party coalition led by Mr. Scholz have delayed the process. Among the contentious points: the creation of a national security council, on the model of what exists in the United States and the United Kingdom under the name of “National Security Council”, or in France with the defense council and of national security. In the absence of an agreement between the Chancellor and the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the management and composition of such a body, it will not see the light of day.
“A deep friendship with France”
On the merits, the seventy-six-page document, published Wednesday under the title “Robustness. Resilience. Sustainability. Fail-safe for Germany,” contains no major surprises. But its interest lies in the formulation of certain passages. “Present-day Russia currently represents the greatest threat to peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic area”is it thus written in the introduction: on the part of a German whose hesitations over arms deliveries to Ukraine have greatly worried some of its allies in recent months – Poland and the Baltic countries in the first place – the precision is not insignificant.
Another example: the attachment to the relationship with France, mentioned five times and even before transatlantic cooperation: “With France, our neighbour, we are linked by a deep friendship, marked by the overcoming of the hostile representations that we have had of each other throughout history. It is this friendship that has enabled us to take the essential stages of European construction, which we consider essential. » While relations between Paris and Berlin are going through a complicated phase, marked by heavy disagreements on defense and energy policy, this matters.
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