German chancellor reaffirms need for NATO’s nuclear deterrent amid Russian threats

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday stressed the need for NATO's nuclear deterrent amid Russia's nuclear threats.

"We take irresponsible Russian nuclear rhetoric very seriously. But we don't let that intimidate us either. As long as states like Russia possess nuclear weapons as part of their threat potential, NATO naturally needs a credible deterrent potential,” Scholz told a security conference in Berlin.

He referred once again to German plans to purchase US-made F-35 fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of Tornado nuclear-capable bombers.

Scholz has overturned Berlin’s decades-long policy toward Russia and pledged to end its energy dependence on Moscow in the wake of the Ukraine war, which has seen Germany abandon its traditional restraint and pacifism in security and defense matters.

The chancellor had not been in office for 100 days when he gave one of the most remarkable speeches in the history of reunited Germany on Feb. 27.

In front of a Bundestag, or German parliament, convened out-of-schedule to respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Scholz announced extraordinary defense expenditures in the form of a €100 billion ($104 billion) special fund and a commitment to surpass NATO members’ spending target of 2% of their respective gross domestic products (GDPs) going forward.

He also coined the term “Zeitenwende” (roughly translated as “turn of an era” or perhaps “watershed”) to describe a major paradigmatic shift in German security policy initiated by Russia’s war.