Germany’s Schäuble calls for expansion of military operations

January 31, 2020

Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble told the Funke media group of regional newspapers on Friday that Germany needed to take more responsibility in military affairs with its allies.

“We can’t hide. If Europe is to play a stronger role, then we must play our part,” Schäuble said. “We cannot leave everything to the French and the Americans.”

The veteran lawmaker and long-time minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinets said he supported German Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer’s plans to streamline the Bundeswehr and boost defense spending to reach NATO’s target of 2% of GDP.

“When France asks us to do more about the security situation in Mali, our responses do not trigger enthusiasm in Paris,” Schäuble said. “The lessons from Auschwitz cannot be an argument for not taking on a permanent commitment.”

Schäuble recognized that expanding Bundeswehr missions could have a “moral cost.” However, Germany “cannot, in any case, continue to pass on the moral costs to others.”

Read more: How does Germany contribute to NATO?

Two German soldiers operate a helicopter

German officials have been hesitant to expand military operations given the country’s wartime past

Under pressure

Germany has come under growing pressure from within the NATO military alliance as well as fellow EU member states to take a more active role in defense matters.

The biggest proponent of increased defense spending within NATO is US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to “moderate” the US commitment to the alliance if member states fail to follow through.

Last year, Kramp-Karrenbauer pledged to boost defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2031. If Berlin follows through with that pledge, it could make Germany the third-largest defense spender behind the United States and China.

“A country of our size, with our economic and technological power, our geostrategic position and global interests, cannot just stand on the sidelines and watch,” she said at the time. “Germany must participate in international debates and drive them forward.”

Read more: 2020 outlook: Germany’s foreign policy divides Angela Merkel’s coalition

Germany’s NATO missions

Germany’s role in NATO

West Germany officially joined the trans-Atlantic alliance in 1955. However, it wasn’t until after reunification in 1990 that the German government considered “out of area” missions led by NATO. From peacekeeping to deterrence, Germany’s Bundeswehr has since been deployed in several countries across the globe in defense of its allies.

Germany’s NATO missions

Bosnia: Germany’s first NATO mission

In 1995, Germany participated in its first “out of area” NATO mission as part of a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the deployment, German soldiers joined other NATO member forces to provide security in the wake of the Bosnian War. The peacekeeping mission included more than 60,000 troops from NATO’s member states and partners.

Germany’s NATO missions

Keeping the peace in Kosovo

Since the beginning of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, some 8,500 German soldiers have been deployed in the young country. In 1999, NATO launched an air assault against Serbian forces accused of carrying out a brutal crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists and their civilian supporters. Approximately 550 Bundeswehr troops are still stationed in Kosovo.

Germany’s NATO missions

Patrolling the Aegean Sea

In 2016, Germany deployed its combat support ship “Bonn” to lead a NATO mission backed by the EU in the Aegean Sea. The mission included conducting “reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of illegal crossings” in Greek and Turkish territorial waters at the height of the migration crisis. Germany, Greece and Turkey had requested assistance from the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Germany’s NATO missions

More than a decade in Afghanistan

In 2003, Germany’s parliament voted to send Bundeswehr troops to Afghanistan in support of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Germany became the third-largest contributor of troops and led the Regional Command North. More than 50 German troops were killed during the mission. Nearly a thousand soldiers are still deployed in Afghanistan as part of Resolute Support.

Germany’s NATO missions

German tanks in Lithuania

Forming part of NATO’s “enhanced forward presence” in the Baltic states, 450 Bundeswehr soldiers have been deployed to Lithuania so far in 2017. The battalion-size battlegroups there are led by Germany, Canada, the UK and US to reinforce collective defense on the alliance’s eastern flank. It forms the “biggest reinforcement of Alliance collective defence in a generation,” according to NATO.

Germany’s NATO missions

Taking over the leadership

The Bundeswehr is due to take over leadership of NATO’s multinational Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) at the start of 2019. The rapid reaction force has been set up to counter potential Russian aggression on the alliance’s eastern flank.

Author: Lewis Sanders IV