US general sharply criticizes Bundeswehr: Germany is no longer our top ally
Created: 11/28/2022, 12:40 p.m
By: Jan-Frederik Wendt
A US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighter jet conducts a NATO air force exercise with two Polish Air Force F-16 fighter jets near Lask.
© Ssgt Danielle Sukhlall/dpa
After Great Britain, Germany has always been the most important US ally in Europe.
Apparently that has changed.
Washington – After Great Britain, Germany apparently no longer ranks as a top ally of the USA.
This is what a general in the US Army in Europe told
Politico
.
"The endless debates about the reconstruction of the Bundeswehr and its lack of strategic culture" diminished Germany's usefulness as an ally.
However, the Federal Republic remains an important logistical hub for the US Army.
In return, Poland "has developed into our most important partner in continental Europe," according to the US general.
Politically, the governments of both countries are not very close.
But: Washington and Warsaw worked closely together on military support for Ukraine.
The city of Rzeszów in south-eastern Poland has not only developed into a port of call for Ukrainian refugees, but also into the most important hub for US weapons en route to the war zone.
For example, the US Army flies the Himar-type rocket launchers, which are so important for Ukraine, via the airport of the city of 200,000.
War in Ukraine: Poland supplies war equipment worth 1.8 billion euros
Poland is not just a hub.
The neighboring German country is itself one of the largest arms suppliers to Ukraine in the fight against Russia.
According to the Kiel Institute for Economic Research, Poland sent war equipment worth 1.8 billion euros to Ukraine by October - third place behind Great Britain and the USA and ahead of Germany in fourth place.
As early as April, Poland handed over 200 Soviet T-72 tanks to the neighboring country during the Ukraine war.
Under the impression of the Russian attack, Poland also started an unprecedented rearmament program for its army, from which the USA is also benefiting.
Warsaw, for example, ordered 250 Abrams-type US main battle tanks worth almost five billion euros to replace the Soviet tanks it had given up.
Poland procured another 180 main battle tanks and 200 self-propelled howitzers in South Korea.
Overall, Warsaw wants to increase arms spending from 2.4 percent of annual economic output to 5 percent - NATO's goal is two percent per country and year for arms spending.
The declared goal of Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak is to make Poland the "most powerful land force in Europe".
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"No Western country wants to upgrade its army as quickly and as extensively as Poland,"
Politico
quotes specialist journalist Mariusz Cielma as saying.
"Anyone who lands the Polish armaments orders will benefit from them for decades, because the maintenance and repair of the device is also involved," says Cielma.
(Jan Wendt)