Germany must be 'war-ready,' defense chief warns amid Russian threat
Photo: Boris Pistorius (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius calls to make the country "ready for war" amid the growing threat from Russia, according to The Washington Post.
His initiative has sparked sharp political debates, although the minister himself remains the most popular politician in Germany – even despite resistance within the Social Democratic Party.
Pistorius emphasizes that Germany must strengthen its defense, as Moscow’s aggressive policy and US calls for greater European independence in security require concrete action.
After World War II, the country positioned itself as a "peace project." However, experts now admit that the Bundeswehr remains understaffed and technically outdated. The army lacks about 80,000 service members to reach the planned 260,000, which they aim to recruit over the next decade.
"Germans want to be like Switzerland: economically successful, but as politically neutral as possible. We’re not ready to seriously consider war again," commented the minister’s fellow party member Sigmar Gabriel.
To partly solve the staffing issue, Pistorius proposed a model of voluntary service – a compromise between the party’s stance against mandatory conscription and the need to strengthen the army. However, this initiative was blocked by the Christian Democratic Union.
Later, the ruling coalition put forward a new idea – partial conscription through a lottery – but Pistorius did not support this option either.
It should be recalled that recently Germany's Chief of Defense Carsten Breuer stated that the country is studying the course of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine in order to prevent Moscow from expecting a quick victory in future conflicts.
"Russia must never come to the assumption that it can win a war against NATO or a single NATO country," he said.
