Germany wants to become the leading military power in Europe
Defense minister says Berlin must use its "clout" as Russia's war in Ukraine changes strategic thinking
Andrew Friedman (AF)September 28, 2026
Germany must become the leading military power in Europe, the country's defense minister said, as the government prepares a new national security strategy based on a significantly strengthened role for Berlin in the Western alliance.
Christine Lambrecht's remarks underscore the revolution in German strategic thinking sparked by Russia's war in Ukraine, which has increased pressure on Berlin to assume a greater role in the European security architecture.
The new role has almost come naturally, she said in a keynote speech at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin. "It has to do with our size, with our geographic location, with our economic power, in short, with our weight," she said. "That makes us a leading power, whether we like it or not - also in the military sense."
She was following up on Chancellor Olaf Scholz's speech to the Bundestag in which, just days after Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February, he broke with a decades-long policy of military restraint and announced a massive increase in defense spending and a 100 billion euro investment fund for the Bundeswehr.
Scholz called the invasion a "turning point" and promised to supply weapons to Ukraine and free the country from its dependence on Russian oil and gas.
Echoing Scholz's speech, Lambrecht said Germany must meet NATO's goal of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense "in the long term," not just in the next few years.
"We have to avoid a situation where in a few years we can't afford to maintain the equipment we are buying now," she said. Lambrecht also reiterated plans for Germany to field three combat-capable Army divisions by the early 2030s, "fully equipped, with three brigades each and additional troops."
Lambrecht also called for a relaxation of strict rules on arms exports to allow participation in European defense projects. "What partner will invest in projects with us if he or she always has to fear that we will prevent the export [of weapons]?"
Some skeptical voices at the DGAP event, however, said the strategic shift was not as profound as the ministers had claimed, seizing in particular on accusations from some allies that Berlin's support for Kiev was not wholehearted.
Claudia Major, a military analyst at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said many in Central and Eastern Europe felt Berlin's assistance to Ukraine was "too slow, hesitant and small-scale." There is a feeling that "we have gambled away their trust," she said.
Lambrecht rejected the accusation and reiterated that Berlin has no intention of complying with a request from Kiev for battle tanks. "No country has so far supplied Western-designed infantry fighting vehicles or battle tanks," she said.
Lambrecht said the U.S. would remain Europe's main protector, but rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan meant "we have to do more for Europe than before," she added: "Germany is ready to make a decisive contribution to fair burden sharing."
Her comments came less than two weeks after the Scholz cabinet officially announced the start of work on a national security strategy, the first in Germany's history that will redefine foreign and defense policy.
She said the West must "draw the necessary conclusions" from Ukraine's war with Russia - that "we ourselves need strong, combat-ready troops so that we can defend ourselves and our alliance if we have to."
Lambrecht acknowledged that the German crimes of the Nazi era and the "war of extermination" waged by the German army in Europe between 1939 and 1945 had made "skepticism about the military a kind of virtue."
But Germany could only guarantee peace and freedom for its people if it abandoned its "old self-image" and defined security as "the central task of this country," he said.
Germans, he said, had become accustomed to seeing the Bundeswehr as a kind of disaster relief force, helping with pandemics, floods and forest fires, and participating in missions such as those in Afghanistan and Mali. "But those days are over," she said.
"The Bundeswehr is not just a line item in the budget - it is conceptually a central institution for our security."
