Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to strengthen the EU as a defense community and calls for a tougher fight for the rule of law.
“If not now, when?” In view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) called for the development of a European defense system – against both external and internal attacks. Five years after French President Emmanuel Macron called for the expansion of European sovereignty in a speech at the Sorbonne, Scholz spoke out on Monday at Charles University in Prague for concrete steps to secure this sovereignty in the long term: through the consistent establishment of a defense union and through new ones Powers for the EU Commission to counter the infiltration of the rule of law internally.
In Europe, when it comes to defending against threats from the air and from space, there is “a lot of catching up to do,” Scholz analyzed. Therefore, Germany will build an air defense system. All neighboring countries are invited to participate. This should also be of interest to Austria, which has long since ceased to be able to manage its air defense alone. At the EU level, the German chancellor called for a coordinated joint rearmament. “The brutal attack on Ukraine is also an attack on the European security order,” said Scholz.