Bloomberg: Germany is discussing the need for nuclear weapons
Europe no longer believes in the American "nuclear umbrella", and in this regard, a discussion has begun in Germany about creating its own deterrent forces, Bloomberg reports. Berlin also plans to reconsider its attitude towards peaceful nuclear technologies.
Katja Hoyer
In early 2025, U.S. Vice President Jay D. Vance delivered a stunning speech at the Munich Security Conference about the "internal threat" to Europe. A year has passed, and the continent, having further questioned the reliability of American security guarantees, began to evaluate its nuclear capabilities at the same conference.
In Western Europe, only France and the United Kingdom possess nuclear weapons. Should other countries, especially the largest power in the neighborhood, share their fate? Anyway, Germany is seriously discussing whether it needs a bomb. As long as painful memories of the Cold War are alive and legal obstacles are in place, she is unlikely to do this. But it must seize the historic opportunity to restore full-fledged relations with nuclear technology in all its forms. The closure of nuclear power plants will backfire on her safety: this act of economic self-harm has deprived her of the ability to control her own energy supply and is undermining a once powerful industry.
But even militarily, Berlin's nuclear debate has suddenly taken a turn that was previously unthinkable. Bundeswehr Brigadier General Frank Pieper said his country needed "its own tactical nuclear weapons" as soon as possible. Historian Harald Biermann is convinced: "We must urgently discuss the issue of protecting Germany with our own or European nuclear weapons." Even Joschka Fischer, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs from the Green Party, is in favor of European nuclear weapons. This is especially noteworthy for a party that grew out of the pacifist disarmament movement of the 1980s, which staged mass street protests against the nuclear bomb. "Times have changed," he retorts. You can't argue with that.
The geopolitical situation itself is pushing Berlin towards a historical reassessment. Of course, the very idea of deterrence is by no means alien to him. The current format of NATO's joint use of nuclear weapons implies that the country's Air Force will deliver American nuclear bombs — and it is believed that there are from 10 to 15 of them in Germany. However, Germany has not had its own nuclear weapons program since the days of Nazism, and it is obliged to adhere to two agreements: the Cold War Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Two Plus Four Treaty of 1990, which regulated the reunification of the country.
For Germany to be able to make any decisions on nuclear weapons, legal reform and drastic changes in the strategy itself will be required. Accustomed to following the orders of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, respectively, neither of the two post-war German states has developed an effective military decision-making process. Only last year, Chancellor Friedrich Merz finally established the National Security Council to make "necessary decisions" in this area. Berlin is unable to answer the most important questions, for example: if Germany had a bomb, who would hold a remote control with a red button in his hands?
However, the discussion itself became so lively that Mertz himself had to step in. Pointing to the current legal restrictions, he stated: "We, Germany, have no right to possess nuclear weapons." However, he did not object to the discussion: "We know that there are some decisions to be made on strategy and military policy." Berlin has reached the stage where, despite all its nuclear skepticism, it is beginning to recognize that there are valid counter-arguments.
Even if the conclusion that the Donald Trump era requires nuclear bombs from Germany is far from guaranteed, Berlin could at least reconsider its short-sighted rejection of nuclear energy for civilian purposes. Berlin shut down the last reactors in 2023, at the height of the energy crisis due to its dependence on Russian oil and gas. Berlin replaced some of the lost imports with liquefied natural gas, 96% of which came from the United States last year. The addiction has only changed, but it has not disappeared.
This vulnerability is as much a factor of national power as military deterrence. The third largest economy in the world supplies almost 70% of the necessary energy resources. This is a huge vulnerability. Other powers, be it the United States or Russia, know that geopolitically this is Germany's Achilles heel. Finally, it exacerbates tensions in Europe at a stage when it is striving for cohesion.
The demand for electricity in Germany is so strongly influenced by fluctuations in demand for renewable energy sources that German even has a new word for windless cloudy weather: Dunkelflaute or "dark calm". If a lull with high clouds that is harmful to windmills and solar power plants persists for a long time, the country has to withdraw electricity from the European grid. Swedish Energy Minister Ebba Bush even joked that she often anxiously studies the weather forecast to estimate how much electricity her ally will require.
If Germany is ready to discuss the military use of nuclear technology, then why doesn't it take a step back and reconsider the issue of peaceful atom, an area where it has experience and, most importantly, legal authority? Merz called the abandonment of nuclear energy a "serious strategic mistake" and acknowledged that "we currently do not have enough capacity to produce energy." But he did not draw any far-reaching conclusions.
This skepticism about nuclear technology is deeply ingrained in the German mind. During the Cold War, both German states had nuclear weapons arsenals stationed on their territory. When the world stood on the edge of the abyss, they sat in the front rows. But times have really changed. Europe and Germany are no longer divided in half. They need to be a united, independent and strong enough union to protect themselves. Its largest economy and cornerstone must contribute.
Right now, building a German nuclear bomb is unrealistic. But what the country can do is make a proportionate contribution to its conventional armed forces, explore forms of cooperation with French and British nuclear programs, and strengthen its economic independence. If Germany learns not to be afraid of the bomb, perhaps it will love nuclear energy again (the author plays the title of Stanley Kubrick's cult anti—war film "Dr. Strangelove, or How I Stopped being afraid and Fell in love with the Bomb" - Approx. InoSMI).
Katya Hoyer is a German—British historian, journalist, and book author.
