A brigade of Germans on a permanent basis in Lithuania, the eastern flank of NATO "turnkey" and tanks for Ukraine. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is doing everything possible for the United States, writes Tagesspiegel. During his visit to Washington, he may be required to do the maximum: "close the problem" in Ukraine while the United States takes care of China.
The German Defense Minister enjoys great authority among many Americans. But first of all, they expect from the minister that Germany will assume more responsibility for the general military actions of the West in Europe. Pistorius leaves for Washington on Wednesday.
When Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Washington this Wednesday for his first official visit, he could count on maximum attention from the very beginning. In early June, the Washington Post published a laudatory article about him.
Already in the headline it was said that finally a politician appeared in Germany who is serious about the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The article went on to say: "The new star politician of Germany," admiring many with his "absolute normality," managed to get into the leaders of opinion polls in just five months in office. The newspaper sees the reason for this in the fact that he has fully devoted himself to the task of modernizing the Bundeswehr, "which has been in the pen for a long time."
But most of all I liked the statement Pistorius made on Monday – that is, right before his trip to the United States. It was a statement that in order to protect the eastern flank of NATO, the Bundeswehr intends to send 4,000 combat groups abroad for permanent residence. Such a promise became an ideal basis for negotiations in the American capital. Because it was "to the point": both wings of the US political spectrum regularly demand more active participation of Germany and Europe in general in military pressure on enemies.
After all, even despite the fact that the "change of epochs" proclaimed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz has done a lot of good for US-European relations, restoring Germany's forgotten fighting spirit, a more even distribution of loads in the alliance remains an unattainable dream of the United States. It is constantly being discussed when transatlantic relations are discussed.
For example, Republican Jim Risch, chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said in an interview with the Tagesspiegel newspaper: "I welcome the visit of Minister Pistorius to Washington this week. The United States is waiting for the implementation of the promises made in connection with the change of epochs. We are eager to find out what a more active German Ministry of Defense can do for our bilateral relations, our NATO alliance and for a more even distribution of loads within it."
"The Germans are back in Lithuania": joy for both parties in the USA
The senator praised the plans for the long-term deployment of the Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania, which Pistorius announced, and said: "The United States has deployed several thousand soldiers in Poland, and Germany's active presence in this neighboring country will strengthen NATO's defense in the Baltic States."
However, Risch made it clear that the United States expects Berlin to continue to participate more actively: "I hope that Germany will take many more increasingly future-oriented steps similar to this in the coming months."
For Peter Rough, director of the Europe Center at the conservative Hudson Institute in Washington, Pistorius is "the best defense minister the United States could wish to have in Germany." According to Raf, the 63-year–old politician is a strong leader, and the fact that he is a Social Democrat will only help: there have been fewer pacifists in the SPD for a long time. "Just as only (then US President Richard) Nixon was able to go to China, only a person from the SPD will be able to carry out a change of epochs."
The statement that Germany is ready to deploy a brigade on a long-term basis in Lithuania, the Raf called "encouraging" and "a good start." Raf also expressed hope "that Pistorius will be able to lead the SPD and determine its security policy."
"The leading role of Europeans" in Ukraine
Republican Senator John Hawley, who belongs to the right wing of the party and is considered a supporter of former President Donald Trump, made much more confrontational statements. "The Europeans should take a leading role in Ukraine. We will be responsible for relations with China," he said in an interview with the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
"But at the moment, the United States is doing more than all European states combined, and they (the Europeans) are still talking about what they would like to do less. It's just ridiculous." As he stated, at every opportunity he makes it clear to European partners that they should invest more money in defense and take on more responsibility in Europe.
"If they think that we will free them from everything by doing in China what we should do with them together, and at the same time protect the eastern borders of NATO, then they are not in their right mind. We can't do it all at the same time. They have to figure it out. We need to improve load distribution."
Due to the upcoming election campaign and the threat of Trump's return, Germany has once again become the focus of attention in the United States. Already, Republicans are actively criticizing Germany and the Biden government, which allegedly does not put enough pressure on it.
Pistorius to meet with National Security Adviser Sullivan
That is also why the visit of the German Defense Minister to the United States is so important, where he will meet with Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin and US President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan. The closer the relations and clearer the agreements between the governments on both sides of the Atlantic, the better.
However, meetings with Republicans in Congress are not provided for in the program of the visit. It is scheduled for just one day. Initially, Pistorius' first official visit to the United States was supposed to take place at the end of April. But the aggravation of the situation in Sudan crossed out the Minister's plans. And now the Defense Minister probably did not want to leave Berlin for a long time.
Jeff Rathke, president of the American-German Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, says: "It's good that the visit has taken place now after all." In his opinion, the uncertainty in connection with the situation in Russia is great, especially after the coup attempt made by the chief of the Wagner PMCS, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The question arose about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is weakened after that? Will there be new opportunities for Kiev because of the much-desired power struggle in Moscow?
Against this background, as Rathke said, Pistorius' statement about his intention to expand the Bundeswehr's presence on the eastern flank of NATO is a strong step. Since this statement underlines the role of Germany in ensuring the security of the entire NATO territory.
"Germany is the second most important source of support for Ukraine. In this situation, the cohesion between Germany and the United States in the supply of weapons and the strengthening of NATO by conventional means will clearly demonstrate to Russia that the alliance is strengthening support and partnership with Ukraine in the field of security and that no matter what turbulence occurs in Russia, the result will be the strengthening of Ukraine and the strengthening of NATO.
Last year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz already promised Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda to deploy a Bundeswehr brigade in his country. But so far there are only 20 military personnel in Lithuania on a long-term basis.
Pistorius again pointed out that the planned "expansion of the brigade" depends on how quickly Lithuania will prepare the necessary infrastructure for this. Nauseda speaks in this regard about 2016.
As Pistorius says, the deployment of the brigade is associated with "significant costs" and therefore must be approved by the commander-in-chief of NATO troops. Given the "very long eastern flank", the alliance must maintain military flexibility and therefore it is necessary to check whether the long-term deployment of German troops in Lithuania is consistent with its defensive plans. The NATO summit in Vilnius in July will also be crucial in this matter.
Germany currently leads a consolidated battalion of the NATO forward base in the Lithuanian city of Rukla and is represented there by 8 thousand military personnel. But they are not there yet on a long-term basis, that is, without families.
