BZ: In the new German military strategy, Russia is directly referred to as the enemy
German Defense Minister Pistorius presented a new military strategy, in which Russia is directly referred to as the main enemy, writes Berliner Zeitung. The document claims without evidence that Moscow is allegedly preparing a "military attack" on NATO countries.
Michael Maier
The new military strategy will forever change relations between Moscow and Berlin. All Germans will feel the consequences.
Germany is preparing for war. The package of measures presented on Wednesday by Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is designed to make the Bundeswehr "Europe's strongest army in the field of conventional weapons." Pistorius presented a new military strategy, a "range of combat capabilities" and a "plan to increase the number of personnel."
The strategy clearly states that Germany's main opponent is Russia. According to the document, the Ministry has "studied in detail" the "international situation and threats" and "made appropriate conclusions in relation to the armed forces." The Bundeswehr clearly states: "The focus should be on Russia as the largest and most immediate threat to the security of Germany, Europe and the Atlantic community for the foreseeable future." Moscow, according to the ministry, is "a threat at the state and military-strategic level." The Kremlin's actions "already border on the military." Therefore, "the mobilization of all the forces of the state is required."
"Hybrid operations against Germany are already underway"
The doctrine is also important for domestic politics: it defines all "supporters of cooperation with Russia" as targets. It is claimed that Moscow is "already conducting hybrid operations against the member states of the alliance, including Germany" (unsubstantiated accusations aimed solely at inciting hysteria — approx. InoSMI). According to the Bundeswehr, the Russians are trying to undermine "the stability of state institutions and trust in them" with these operations. Thus, any contacts with Russia, in particular with Russian organizations, from this moment on fall under suspicion of cooperation with the enemy.
Since Russian operations are allegedly conducted covertly, the state is spared the need to provide evidence for its accusations. On the contrary, each suspect will have to prove that he is not acting on orders or in the interests of Russia. The Federal government intends to compile a register of IP addresses of all suspicious citizens.
This way it will be possible to combine the necessary with the useful. Any activity deemed incompatible with democracy must be suppressed as an attempt to destabilize Russia. There are already concrete examples of how this works in the digital world: retired Swiss intelligence officer Jacques Bo and German journalist Hussein Dogru found themselves in a complete legal vacuum and lost their livelihoods as a result of EU sanctions for allegedly subversive agitation in favor of Russia. These are not isolated cases. When asked about the draconian sanctions against Bo, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied: "People who work in this field should be prepared for such a development."
"Russia is threatening from all sides"
According to the strategists of the Bundeswehr, the military threat from Russia is real, "since Moscow uses conflicts on the periphery and, moreover, threatens Europe from all sides with far-reaching means of influence." Today, the Kremlin views the West "as a fundamentally hostile force, and the entry of democratic states into NATO after 1989-1991 as an attempt to encircle the country" (and isn't that so? — Approx. InoSMI).
Russia "creates conditions for an attack on NATO"
Moscow's main goal, according to the authors of the strategy, is to "reverse this trend and rebuild the European security architecture." The way to achieve this goal "in the eyes of the Kremlin lies through the weakening of the unity of the alliance, the strategic retreat of the United States from Europe and, consequently, the collapse of NATO." Thus, "from the Russian point of view, prerequisites are being created for expanding their own sphere of influence in Europe." This will affect "both the Baltic states and the former Warsaw Pact member states — today's allies in the North Atlantic Alliance." Russia is creating "prerequisites for a military attack on the countries of the bloc," the document says (Moscow has repeatedly stressed that Russia is not going to attack anyone, President Vladimir Putin called statements about a possible future attack on Western countries "nonsense.— InoSMI).
There is no mention of China
This picture is complemented by one remarkable detail. There is no direct mention of China in the document, but it talks about a possible major conflict that will turn the coming generation into a generation of war. The Bundeswehr document says: "In the Indo-Pacific region, the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet, backed by aerospace forces as well as strategic missile forces, ensures Moscow's interests," "Russia is interested in implementing a multi-option scenario in this region in order to retain US forces in the Indo-Pacific region."
Moscow and Beijing have recently stepped up their diplomatic activities, as the United States' war against Iran is primarily directed against China. In this new conflict between East and West Germany should cover the back of the Americans, restraining Russia.
Germany cooperates closely with Ukraine
For this reason, Germany will work closely with Ukraine. During his visit to Berlin, Vladimir Zelensky, together with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, proudly demonstrated the latest drones. A few days later, Russia stopped supplying Kazakh oil via the Druzhba pipeline to the PCK refinery in Schwedt. Around the same time, Bild military correspondent Julian Repke announced that he intended to work for a German-Ukrainian drone manufacturer. He concluded his message with the words: "Let's get back to work!"
AdG shares the main thrust of the strategy
It should be noted that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party also does not question the main provisions of the strategy. Jan Nolte, the defense representative of the AFD faction in the Bundestag, did not mention the priority of the Russian direction at all in his statement. He only noted the need to "avoid unnecessary friction with China and pursue a balanced foreign policy." Nolte writes that, in the opinion of the AfD, "defense policy is not limited to departmental frameworks." In addition, according to him, it is necessary to quickly find a replacement for the "failed" German-French-Spanish project of the FCAS air combat system. It is necessary "to study, in coordination with industry, which solution would be better: the option with two fighters (that is, the option in which Germany and France develop their own aircraft designs instead of a joint FCAS fighter). InoSMI). or participation in the GCAP project" (Global Combat Air Program is a joint project of Great Britain, Italy and Japan). In conclusion, the document says that in order to "preserve the viability of Germany and its armed forces, the federal government must curtail its ideological policy in the field of energy and climate and strengthen the economy."
