German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his speech at the special session of Parliament this Sunday. ODD ANDERSEN (AFP)
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has suddenly awakened Germany, which in two days has made momentous decisions that radically change policies that have been established for decades.
This Sunday, in a historic speech in the Bundestag, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced an extraordinary allocation of 100,000 million euros to improve the German Army and an increase in annual investment in Defense of more than 2% of gross domestic product .
"Putin's war," Scholz has said, "is a turning point."
"We will have to invest significantly more in the security of our country to protect our freedom and our democracy," he said.
Germany rearms to deal with the Russian threat.
This turn with respect to German defense policy is preceded by criticism of the "abandonment" of the Bundeswehr (the Armed Forces), which politicians from different parties and high-ranking military officials have expressed in recent days.
Lt. Gen. Alfons Mais, the most senior officer, has publicly lamented that decades of meager investment have left the German military unprepared to defend the country from attack.
“We all saw it coming, but we have not been able to draw the necessary conclusions from the annexation of Crimea.
This is not OK!
I am so pissed off!” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Scholz's decision to massively increase defense spending comes just a day after Berlin made another 180-degree turn on its restrictive policy of sending weapons to conflict zones.
After weeks of resisting, and facing criticism from allies, the chancellor announced the delivery to Ukraine of 1,000 anti-tank missiles and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles from Bundeswehr stocks to support the Ukrainian armed forces.
"It is our duty to do everything possible to help Ukraine defend itself from the invading Army of Vladimir Putin," Scholz justified the radical change in Berlin, which until now had even vetoed the re-export of weapons through third countries.
The chancellor also proposed to establish in the German Constitution the investment of more than 2% in the Armed Forces.
Both measures are controversial in a country that still weighs its bloody history of the 20th century and whose population is mostly pacifist.
The leader of the opposition, the Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz, gave his explicit support to Scholz, although he urged him not to excessively increase the debt so that it does not fall on the younger generations.
"We will walk this path together," he assured.
Merz took up a controversial statement by former Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who described Putin as an "impeccable democrat" in 2004, during his speech: "That perfect democrat, who never was, has now become a war criminal."
Until now, Germany has resisted, as requested by NATO, to increase the defense budget ―which represents around 1.5% of GDP― and has been postponing the need to rethink its role in the world and its responsibility as a European power .
Scholz specified that his decision is not due to the promise made to the allies, or not only: "We also do this for ourselves, for our own security," he said in the Bundestag.
The foreign minister also mentioned cooperation with European partners.
He said it is important for the EU to keep up technologically and build the next generation of fighter jets and tanks.
“These projects have the highest priority for us,” he assured.
Putin has created a new reality in Europe, Scholz stressed.
And that changes everything: “he has started a cold-blooded war of aggression”.
“He is inhuman.
He goes against international law.
Nothing and no one can justify what is happening, ”said the foreign minister, who received applause from the deputies at various times during his speech.
"There could be no other response to Putin's aggression," he stressed.
With the injection of funds, which will be incorporated into the 2022 budget, and the annual increase in Defense spending, Berlin's goal is to achieve an "efficient and modern" Army.
It will cost a lot of money, the chancellor warned: "But it has to be feasible for a country of our size and importance in Europe."
energy independence
The turning point brought about by the Russian invasion of Ukraine is not limited to Germany's military capabilities.
Berlin wants to guarantee energy independence from Moscow as soon as possible.
Scholz announced this Sunday that the Government will build two new liquefied gas terminals that will allow it to import gas by ship and ensure the supply of this fuel in case it is reduced in the future.
Germany now does not have any regasification plants in its territory, in another example that its energy policy in recent decades has looked almost exclusively to the East;
to the fuel that arrives by gas pipelines from Russia.
Berlin's Western allies have been pressuring Germany to speed up its weaning off Russian gas, but the task is no easy feat for a country that has shut down almost all of its nuclear power plants and intends to go coal-free by 2030. 55% of the gas consumed by the powerful German industry and that feeds the country's heating systems comes from Russia.
Earlier this week, Berlin halted the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the world's most controversial energy project, in response to Russia's actions.
The chancellor has warned Putin that the sanctions agreed on Saturday by the allies – the selective exclusion of the SWIFT interbank system, the freezing of the assets of the Russian Central Bank and of the oligarchs close to Putin – will not be the last.
"We reserve the right to impose others later," he said.
"Let's face it: Putin will not change course overnight, but Russian leaders will soon see the heavy price they are going to pay," he added.
Also in the imposition of sanctions there has been a change of course by the German government, which was reluctant to impose measures such as the withdrawal of SWIFT for fear of the repercussions for the German economy.
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