The stationing of American weapons in Germany, contested

2024-10-15 09:01:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

A government decision that is far-reaching in some respects in Germany, such as the deployment of new US medium-range missiles and other weapons, has caused great debate. Left-wing Bundestag member Dietmar Bartsch calls it "monstrous", the way the decision was made and communicated. His parliamentary group in the Bundestag wants the agreement between Germany and the US to be scrapped. This is unlikely to happen, but since SPD chancellor Olaf Scholz announced their stationing on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington in mid-July, a debate about security began with various fears and concerns. Contrary to what Scholz claimed at the time, the decision came as a surprise even to many observers. Also because it was not even discussed within NATO.

Opinions divided within the Germans

In the current ARD trend in Germany by dimap infratest, 45 percent of respondents are against the stationing of American weapons and only 40 percent are in favor. In East Germany, where weapons are not allowed to be deployed because of the Two Plus Four Treaty, rejection is higher, up to 57 percent. Polls from other institutes have presented a similar picture since July. Scholz had referred to Russian weaponry since the start of the attack on Ukraine and said Germany needed to "secure its threat capability".

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also spoke of a "serious capability gap" that needed to be closed. The three weapons systems to be deployed in 2026 could reach Russia. Some of them can be equipped with nuclear weapons, but they should only be used conventionally. The chancellor has so far refrained from making a government statement or anything similar.

Meanwhile, criticism of the stationing plans is also heard in the chancellor's party, the SPD. The head of the parliamentary group Rolf Mützenich warns of the danger of unintended military escalation. Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke is calling for a wider discussion. And left-wing SPD MP Ralf Stegner spoke out against the missile plans at a larger anti-war demonstration in Berlin on October 3. The same request was also represented by the leader of the new left Alliance, Sahra Wagenknecht and the left MP Gesine Lötzsch.

"Disastrously communicated"

Protest researcher Alexander Leistner of the University of Leipzig who researches the pacifist movement says the decision to station US weapons was "disastrously communicated". Since then, the discussion has not progressed properly. Certain aspects are often missed, such as, unlike in the 1980s, when NATO's controversial double decision was made, the weapons in question now are not nuclear weapons. This is where different "perspectives of interpretation" collide. "Some see Russia as a threat to Europe, others see a proxy war in Ukraine that threatens to escalate as a result of the deployment," Leistner said. Between the two positions there is a lot of widespread fear.

Some would now try to "escalate everything into a matter of war or peace." At the same time, Leistner points out, peace policy expertise has taken second place in front of security policy expertise. Even the protests so far are still far from the mobilizations against NATO's double decision or against the war in Iraq in 2003. At that time, several hundred thousand people demonstrated in Bonn and Berlin. Leistner believes the missile issue will come to the fore by the time of the federal election, and at least left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht will use it.

Wagenknecht's alliance has so far pursued a dual strategy. At the federal level, this left-wing party calls for a referendum. In Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg it is making the rejection of stationing plans a condition for possible coalitions. The rockets pose a "massive danger to the population," Bundestag member Sevim Dagdelen said. What speaks for and against stationing

Proponents of stationing criticize that in the ongoing debate half-truths are being used for debate. Democracy and the rule of law should definitely be "protected", says SPD MP Falko Droßmann. The coalition partner FDP also made a similar statement. The deployment of the US weapons is largely seen as a response to Russian short-range missiles that have been stationed in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad since 2018. From there, nuclear-tipped systems can reach almost all of Poland, parts of the Baltic Sea and Germany. The most critical is former colonel Wolfgang Richter. The security expert questioned the planned deployment of US weapons early on and stressed that Germany would be "singularized" by the one-sided deal with the US, as other European partners do not share the risks of the deployment. Richter also suspects there is a military capability gap. NATO can attack targets in Russia today. However, the new missiles would significantly reduce the warning time. This would change "the strategic balance between the US and Russia". In other words, it threatens instability, according to Richter.

Thus the German federal government's decision in favor of stationing the missiles affects a population that is clearly committed to the NATO alliance in the polls. But at the same time, the fear of war is growing./ DW