Europe must pay greater attention to its own defense in the future, regardless of the outcome of the US elections. This was stated by the German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius during a visit to London, Day.Az reports with reference to TASS.
“The US focus is shifting to the Indo-Pacific region, that is, towards Asia, regardless of who wins the US presidential election,” Pistorius said when asked whether the defense cooperation agreement that was signed between Berlin and London, concerns about Donald Trump’s second term as US President. At the same time, the head of the German Ministry of Defense emphasized the importance of NATO for European security.
“We will continue to rely on this. The question is whether the US will contribute much less to European security in the future, or just a little less,” he explained. In any case, the European pillar, according to the minister, needs to be strengthened.
Earlier, the UK and Germany signed an agreement on deepened defense partnership, called the Trinity House Agreement. It involves the allies conducting joint exercises on NATO’s eastern flank, jointly producing drones and protecting underwater infrastructure in the North Sea. Another important point of the document is the periodic deployment of Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the German Air Force at Lossiemouth airbase in northeast Scotland “to protect the North Atlantic.” The concluded agreement also envisages the opening in the UK of a plant for the production of artillery barrels of the German arms concern Rheinmetall.
The parties will also cooperate in the field of artificial intelligence and begin joint development of long-range missiles, the flight range of which will exceed the models currently in service in both countries. According to The Times, we are talking about weapons with a range of 3.2 thousand km.