Merz says Germany exploring shared nuclear umbrella with European allies

European nations are starting to discuss ideas around a shared nuclear umbrella to complement existing security arrangements with the U.S., German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, amid growing talk in Germany of developing its own nuclear defences.
Merz, speaking at a time of increased transatlantic tensions as U.S. President Donald Trump upends traditional alliances, said the talks were only at an initial stage and no decision was imminent.

“We know that we have to reach a number of strategic and military policy decisions, but at the moment, the time is not ripe,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Germany is currently banned from developing a nuclear weapon of its own under the so-called Four Plus Two agreement that opened the way for the country’s reunification in 1990 as well as under a landmark nuclear non-proliferation treaty that Germany signed in 1969.

Merz said Germany’s treaty obligations did not prevent it from discussing joint solutions with partners, including Britain and France, the only European powers which have a nuclear arsenal.
“These talks are taking place. They are also not in conflict with nuclear-sharing with the United States of America,” he said.
European nations have long relied heavily on the United States, including its large nuclear arsenal, for their defence but have been increasing military spending, partly in response to sharp criticism from the Trump administration.

Trump has rattled Washington’s European allies with his talk of acquiring Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally, and his threat, later rescinded, to impose tariffs on countries that stood in his way.
He has also suggested in the past that the U.S. would not help protect countries that failed to spend enough on their own defence.
Merz’s comments were echoed by the head of the parliamentary defence committee, Thomas Roewekamp, who said Germany had the technical capacity which could be used in developing a European nuclear weapon.

“We do not have missiles or warheads, but we do have a significant technological advantage that we could contribute to a joint European initiative,” Roewekamp, from Merz’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union party, told Germany’s Welt TV.

I am somewhat happy this discussion is coming up again. I was called a madman before last year for wanting that. Inevitably, the discussion will again be “will Paris nuke Moscow if Berlin gets attacked,” and I believe this question is purely to sow doubts in a continent of shared destiny. There can never be peace in europe without massive shared security.

Let’s go for it, can the UK get in on the act too?

I think we need a shared nuclear power pact in EU. What if UK or France elect eurosceptics? We need more countries that can share the umbrella. Poland, Canada, Japan also.

Germany getting nukes is def next lvl dark arts fuck of orange/putler shit.

fascinating but i do wonder what kind of deal is “le pen and farage proof”…

Every time there is increase in military support to Ukraine, russia rattles it’s nuclear saber. The same thing will happen, if it escalates against NATO country.

European countries having their own nuclear umbrella is the only long-term solution to stop russian aggression.

I don’t know nukes solve the scenario / crisis Carlo Masala portrays in “If Russia Wins”.

If you’re not familiar with it, it posits a Russian encroachment on the Estonian town of Narva and another island in the Baltic.

It’s intended to test if NATO/EU is willing to go to war over such small stakes.

Germany shall never have nuclear weapons. Their history is too dark to have.

Germany should develop its own nuclear arsenal and wield it in service of the EU/NATO without the US. In an ideal world, there would not be a reason to participate in nuclear proliferation, because security guarantees offered by nuclear states could be trusted. But it isn’t this world. Choosing not to participate in proliferation in the wake of America’s devolution is not worth the cost of losing sovereignty. This is the lesson of the war in Ukraine.

De Gaulle himself explained how Europe was vital interest of France for him and was covered by the French nuclear deterrent.

https://www.frstrategie.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/recherches-et-documents/2019/201901.pdf

> This vision was consistent with his idea that nuclear force contributed to the security of Europe and that of the Alliance as a whole. French deterrence was to be reserved for the defence of France’s vital interests, an expression sometimes used by the General. But contrary to a popular belief, these vital interests were not limited to national territory. For de Gaulle, the fate of France and that of
Europe were closely linked. He privately indicated that the French nuclear force was protecting his immediate neighbours, notably Germany. In secret instructions given to the armed forces in 1964, General de Gaulle reportedly specified that France should “feel threatened as soon as the territories of federal Germany and Benelux are violated”.