In view of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the challenges posed by China, CDU leader Friedrich Merz has called for a strategic cultural change in German foreign policy. Germany must be ready, internationally “a leading role commensurate with its size and capability” to play, said Merz, who is also the head of the Union parliamentary group, on Wednesday at an event organized by the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation to support Ukraine in Berlin. “That’s why we need a strategic as well as an institutional culture change.”
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, also attended the event.
“A policy that thinks strategically about foreign policy is still largely alien to us in Germany,” criticized Merz. It is about Germany’s foreign policy self-image, its role in the world and NATO, the North Atlantic defense alliance. In addition, the question must be answered: “What role do we want to assign to the European Union in an evolving common foreign and security policy?” Merz repeated his call for the establishment of a National Security Council as a consequence of the war in Ukraine. In this council, “strategic prioritization, coordination and, if necessary, adjustments should be made”.
Kuleba renewed his government’s demand for the delivery of main battle tanks, additional howitzers, multiple rocket launcher systems and anti-aircraft guns, among other things. This will help improve the situation at the front. While Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has so far rejected the delivery of modern Leopard 2 battle tanks demanded by Kyiv, opposition politician Merz has spoken out in favor of Germany supplying such weapons to Ukraine.
