Merz wants EU weapons to boost US shield
Published: 03:03 PM,Mar 09,2025 | EDITED : 07:03 PM,Mar 09,2025
Germany's chancellor-in-waiting and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) Friedrich Merz and co-leader of the Social Democratic party (SPD) Lars Klingbeil leave after giving a statement with Bavarian state premier and leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) Markus Soeder and co-leader of the SPD Saskia Esken, after exploratory talks in Berlin, Germany March 8, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
BERLIN: German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz on Sunday said he would like talks with France and Britain about sharing their nuclear weapons. 'Sharing nuclear weapons is an issue that we need to talk about... we have to become stronger together in nuclear deterrence,' he said in an interview on Deutschlandfunk radio, a day after agreeing cornerstones of a coalition deal between his conservative party and the Social Democratic SPD party. 'We should talk with both countries (France and Britain), always also from the perspective of supplementing the American nuclear shield, which we of course want to see maintained.'
At a summit in Brussels, EU leaders backed plans to spend more on defence amid fears that Russia, emboldened by its war in Ukraine, may attack an EU country next and that Europe can no longer rely on the US to come to its aid. Merz's tougher stance on security and migration reflects a changing political landscape, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surged to become the country's second-largest party. — Reuters
At a summit in Brussels, EU leaders backed plans to spend more on defence amid fears that Russia, emboldened by its war in Ukraine, may attack an EU country next and that Europe can no longer rely on the US to come to its aid. Merz's tougher stance on security and migration reflects a changing political landscape, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surged to become the country's second-largest party. — Reuters