Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer reciprocates Lloyd Austin’s April visit to Berlin and makes an official visit to the Pentagon today. For the minister at the top of the agenda is Afghanistan, then bilateral relations, from the increase of American troops in Germany to industrial issues, made complex by Trump’s four years
Official visit to Washington for the German Minister of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who meets his colleague at the Pentagon today Lloyd Austin, thus returning the latter’s visit to Berlin in April. A bilateral event with Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the President Joe Biden, in parallel to the American journey of Olaf Scholz, Minister of Finance of Germany, who meets the secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen to follow the theme of taxation on a global scale, which already emerged at the G7 in Cornwall.
THE ACTUALITY OF AFGHANISTAN
Defense side will start with Afghanistan, given the conclusion today of the withdrawal of the German contingent from the country. Germany was the second contributor after the United States (and before Italy) of the Resolute Support mission of the Atlantic Alliance. In line with the decision taken at NATO headquarters (and confirmed by the leaders in Brussels on 14 June last), Berlin has arranged for the withdrawal of its troops, maintaining the same concerns expressed by Italy about the future of Afghanistan. For this reason, Akk and Austin will talk about how to continue supporting the Kabul government beyond the end of the military commitment, a few days after the Afghan president’s visit to Washington Ashraf Ghani, who has meeting on Friday Joe Biden.
Tomorrow, I have the pleasure of welcoming my friend @AKK to the Pentagon. The transatlantic bond between the U.S. and Germany is strong, and I’m looking forward to robust discussions on readiness, interoperability, and further strengthening the @NATO alliance. #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/KmuqpmfgpF
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) June 29, 2021
THE BILATERAL LINKS
Beyond the topicality of the Afghanistan theme, Akk’s visit to Washington serves to definitively clear the clouds that during the four years of Donald Trump they had concentrated on bilateral relations between Germany and the USA in the military field. Clouds that had already lost intensity in April, when Lloyd Austin, visiting Berlin, announced the increase of the American contingent in Germany: 500 more units, arriving no earlier than autumn, ready to settle in Wiesbaden, in Hesse, home of the US Army Europe. “These forces – explained the defense secretary – will strengthen defense and deterrence in Europe; our capacity to prevent conflicts and, if necessary, to fight and overcome them will increase ”. More: “this move will create more space, cyber and electronic warfare capabilities” and will improve “our ability to dispose of forces when it is necessary to defend our allies”.
THE BIDEN LINE
This announcement was enough to highlight a real U-turn by the Biden administration with respect to what was planned by Donald Trump, which about a year ago signed an executive order for the return (and possible redeployment to other countries) of 11,900 soldiers from German territory, about a third of a total presence of about 36 thousand units. Already in early February, two weeks after taking office in the White House, the national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced the stop to the Trumpian plan, justifying the decision with the need to review the European posture of the Pentagon as a whole. Review in progress, as part of the Global Posture Review, also announced in February by Lloyd Austin to define the entire implantation of American military posture overseas.
IL NORD STREAM 2
Of course, not everything is resolved between Berlin and Washington. Trump’s decision to withdraw from Germany emerged in June 2020, in the middle of the distances with Angela Merkel on a multiplicity of points, from Nord Stream 2, to the commercial dossier, to the different visions on the relationship with China and the open controversy over the G7 meeting. Some of these issues remain delicate between Berlin and Washington, starting with Nord Stream 2, which Biden immediately defined as a “bad deal” for Germany. The secretary of state Tony blinking and the president, however, already ruled out sanctions for the companies involved in the construction in May, a symptom of the margins to overcome the intricate dossier.
THE OPEN THEMES
On the defense front, today Austin and Akk will follow up on what emerged in April: strengthening “bilateral relations”. In addition to the notes on the issue of 2% of GDP to be spent in the sector, in the spring of 2020 the political debate exploded in Germany on participation in NATO’s nuclear deterrence, a debate that has now attenuated the characters, but which could reinforce them in the race to September vote for the Bundestag. In Washington, the intolerance for the exclusion of the F-35 from the tender to replace the Tornadoes for the Luftwaffe remains alive. At the end of September, Germany canceled the STH tender (estimated at around 4 billion euros) for its new heavy transport helicopters, sending back the proposals of Boeing and Lockheed Martin overseas.