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Germany released its first ever National Security Strategy (NSS) on Wednesday, identifying China as a “partner, competitor and systematic rival”. Citing and condemning the invasion of Ukraine, the document says, for now, Russia is the “most significant threat to peace and security” in the Euro-Atlantic area.
The document had been repeatedly delayed owing to reported disagreements between the coalition partners in the German government – Chancelor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, the Greens and the Free Democrats.
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The strategy noted that the world is becoming increasingly multipolar and marked by rising systemic rivalry. While most countries follow the United Nations Charter and are committed to international law, due to their perceptions of systemic rivalry, “some states seek to undermine this order and give effect to their revisionist notions of spheres of influence”, the document said.
“In this international context, China is a partner, competitor and systemic rival. We see that the elements of rivalry and competition have increased in recent years, but at the same time China remains a partner without whom many of the most pressing global challenges cannot be resolved,” the German government said. A strategy focused exclusively on China is in process but is not expected to be released before bilateral talks with Beijing on June 20.
The strategy said the country’s security environment was at a turning point or Zeitenwende with these changes. Mr. Scholz had used ‘Zeitenwende’ in a speech on February 27, 2022, in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The NSS also announced a shift towards an integrated security policy for Germany.
“This is a major change being carried out by us in Germany in how we deal with security policy,” Mr. Scholz said while unveiling the strategy, as per a Reuters report.
“..Security also means making sure our heating works in winter,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote in her note accompanying the document, saying integrated security was not just about equipping the Army but also taking account of the freedom of the media landscape and the reliability of supply chains.
The strategy also stresses the importance of combating climate change and says Germany is committed to the universaility of human rights and rejects any attempt to “downplay” these rights.
It noted that actors use global fragility to consolidate their own power and increase their spheres of influence and that the Indo-Pacific “remains of special significance” to Germany and Europe.
The strategy articulates a watered-down version of the 2% of GDP defence expenditure target set by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) security alliance, by saying it will achieve this on average over a multiyear period. However, German Finance Minister Christian Linder said on Wednesday that his country would reach the 2% annual target next year.
“We act in awareness of our history and of the guilt our country bears for unleashing the Second World War and for perpetrating the Shoah, that betrayal of all civilized values. Reconciliation with our European neighbours and responsibility for Israel’s right to exist remain an enduring obligation for us,” the document said. It specifically mentioned France and the U.S. as countries with which Germany has a close relationship.
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