France and Germany boost defense ties amid global tensions • FRANCE 24 English

France and Germany boost defense ties amid global tensions • FRANCE 24 English

France and Germany are deepening defensive ties amidst growing global tensions after Russia’s deadly missile barriers on Kev on Wednesday evening. Presidents Eman and Fred Meltz have been meeting in Tulus in Tulong this Friday. They’ve announced a new air defense support for Ukraine, a strong signal of unity against Moscow. The two have also launched a strategic dialogue on nuclear deterrence, aiming to better coordinate their defense postures as France remains Europe’s only nuclear armed state. And on tech policy, the leaders have stood firm against US pressure, vowing to uphold EU digital regulations after threats of tariffs from President Donald Trump. The message, Europe’s two biggest powers are closing ranks on war, tech, and nuclear security. Here’s Emanuel Mak on Ukraine. The next few days will be decisive, marking the end of the period we had agreed with President Trump and with President Zilinski to hold the first meetings. And we will continue to exert pressure for additional sanctions to be imposed. We are ready to do this ourselves, but also with the United States of America to force Russia back to the negotiating table while at the same time maintaining our support. Well, let’s bring into the conversation Marikbata, research fellow at the study, a committee on FrancoGerman relations that surfer at Ephree. Welcome to the show, Marie. Thank you so much. We just heard there from Emanuel Mak about what Germany and France can do together in terms of sanctions on Moscow. Just how much power can they assume together as Europe’s two leading economies? How much pressure can they really put on Moscow in the weeks to come? Well, I think uh France and Germany are the main economies in the European Union. So, Germany, it’s 30% of the EU’s GDP. France is 20% of the EU’s GDP. So, of course, when it comes to economy and the possibility to sanction Russia, that is important. But I think what was important uh for this Franco-German Council of Ministers is really to show a reset in FrancoGerman relations, a realignment in their policies in the policies of these two countries. now with the new government uh in Germany with Frame Mas because before that it was Olaf Schultz the chancellor in Germany and the relationship between Olaf Schultz and Emir Mron could have been better. So uh there are different topics uh that these two um uh states of u heads of state and head of government talked about uh in terms of economy um how to um you know um to to um help the economy in uh in Europe thrive uh the competitiveness um after the draggy report came out last year um that showed that Europe was lagging behind the US and China. But then of course also security and defense is important. the question of security guarantees when it comes to Ukraine, the question about the US support for Europe and the US support for Ukraine. So these are topics that are very much important especially for Fred who wants to take the lead on security and defense and he wants to build the strongest um army um in Europe with the German army now being modernized. I think Meltz has been very blunt in terms of his assessment of European US relations of late and saying exactly what Europe needs to do to step up really talking strong. Mong has also talked about Europe thinking in terms of a wartime economy but yet these two leaders are not in really strong positions of power within the domestic scene. Melts relying on a coalition mak well we know what’s coming on the 8th of September and that could really derail his entire government. So we could be looking at very different relations between the two countries even within two weeks time. Yeah, absolutely. And uh I think um that’s the fear of Germany. What is going to come next after the 8th of September? the question of confidence that Franco, the French PM, um will ask um and then after 2027 because um Emil Mron is in office until 2027 and um Germany pretty much relies on Emanuel Mron who’s considered as being pro- European but what is to come next and the fear is that it’s populist um parties that will come next and what will Europe look like under populist parties and at the same time Germany as you said um has a coalition between the CDU CSUs, the conservatives and the SPD, so the social democrats and they have a majority of 12 um voices in the Bundesak in the in the German parliament. Is that a lot or not? It’s not it’s not uh much. So uh indeed when it comes to security and defense and the question of boots on the ground for instance um that is exactly um the the the numbers you’re going to count uh and there are different voices uh within the CDUS and within the SPD as well. Although the pragmatic um wing of the SPDA um is now in power and in government, there are also um the there’s also the the left wing which is um more in favor of you know peace and um and was very much criticized for an appeasement policy with with Russia as well. So this is something that is going to be very much complicated also because of the history of Germany which is considered a reluctant hijgemon after the the second world war and which rather you know focused on its economy rather than security and defense and now it needs to take this leading role. Now, we talk about the changes that could be on the horizon. Uh, but do you think that this will change anything in terms of this nuclear deterrence move that Germany and France have announced today or do you think that this is something that can be maintained across the political spectrum with both countries? Well, I think um so one uh important momentum in the change of German foreign policy in the past years was uh the war in Ukraine and the Titan vinder, the change of epoch that was announced by Olaf Schulz. The second moment is Trump coming back to the White House and as you said uh Fmedz was quite blunt um and u in February after the elections he said Europe needs to grow independent and he also you know reached out to France um European nuclear power and see whether the um vital interests of France can be extended to Germany because um if uh they cannot rely on the US anymore um from this nuclear deterrence perspective they need to reach out to new partners. But they considered that the US are the you know the the main um um guarantee for security and the main uh deterrent when it comes to nuclear deterrence. Um so it’s the main partner. NATO is still an important alliance. Um and France would come as a complement to that. But then how does this affect NATO? Do you do you envisage that this newfound uh unity or this uh uh new path that Germany and France are on can this really go a long way to affecting how NATO approaches big talking points like Ukraine? Um I think um Matt and M agree on the fact that the European pillar within NATO needs to be strengthened. So it’s also good for the US that the European Union takes up more responsibility and um European states within NATO take more responsibility and if you look at the H summit um of NATO back in June um NATO countries agreed to the 5% target and Germany actually agreed to reaching the target even before so even before 2035 already in 2029. Um so I think this can work well together but uh for the time being Europe is very much dependent uh from a security and defense perspective on the US be operationally speaking but also when it comes to armament so when we talk about operations this question about boots on the ground in Ukraine well first of all you’d need a ceasefire or a a peace treaty for that but uh many politicians in Germany say we need US support for that otherwise it’s not possible that is Unfortunately, we’re going to have to leave it, but US support with the caveat of uh making sure that they stay ahead in the technology race against the United States. Thank you so much for joining us and just providing your thoughts there.

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on August 29 for the Franco-German Council of Ministers. They discussed Europe’s economy, support for Ukraine, and defense, with Merz pushing for German leadership on security. But political tensions in France and Germany are straining the partnership amid broader concerns over NATO, nuclear deterrence, and Europe’s reliance on US protection. Marie Krpata, Research Fellow at the Study Committee on Franco-German Relations at IFRI, has more on this issue.
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