Germany and the UK Use "Security Threats" to Build Momentum for Military Rearmament

Reference News Network reported on February 17 According to a report from the British newspaper The Guardian on February 15, the highest military leaders of the UK and Germany are unprecedentedly issuing a joint appeal to the public, hoping they will recognize the "moral" justification for rearming in preparation for the threat of war with Russia.

The two stated that they are making this request not only as military leaders of the two largest military spending countries in Europe but also "as the voice of Europe—because Europe must now face the harsh reality of its security challenges."

UK Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Richard Nugee, and General Carsten Breuer, Director of the German Federal Armed Forces, pointed out that Russia's military posture has "decisively shifted westward," and that the European defense and security system urgently requires "significant transformation."

In a joint article published in The Guardian and the German newspaper Die Welt after the Munich Security Conference, the two military leaders emphasized their responsibility to "clarify the stakes so that the public can understand why the UK and Germany are committed to the largest and most sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War."

They wrote: "This move has moral significance. Rearming is not an act of aggression, but a responsible action taken by a nation determined to protect its people and maintain peace."

Currently, voters in both the UK and Germany are generally reluctant to bear the economic pain of rearming.

In the UK, a poll conducted this month by the polling company YouGov found that only a minority support increasing military spending through tax increases (25%) or spending cuts (24%), including those who believe enhancing the UK's hard power is crucial. A poll by Politico this month showed that German and French voters are now less willing than last year to support an increase in the defense budget if it means sacrificing other investments.

Nugee and Breuer stated in the article: "If Russia perceives Europe as weak or divided, it may become more reckless. History teaches us: when an adversary senses that you are divided and weak, deterrence fails."

Nugee and Breuer also noted that the complexity of such threats requires authorities to "engage in an open dialogue with the public across Europe, telling them that defense is not just the responsibility of the military."

They called for the establishment of a "whole-of-society defense system," including building resilient infrastructure, promoting private sector technological research and development, and ensuring that national institutions can operate normally under increasingly severe threats.

The UK and Germany have committed to deepening security and defense cooperation and signed a document known as the "Trinitarian Defense Agreement" in 2024. Germany is permanently stationing a combat brigade of 4,000 to 5,000 troops on NATO's eastern flank. The UK is building up to six military factories aimed at creating what the Ministry of Defence calls a "sustained operational" capability to maintain arms reserves. (Translated by Yang Xuelei)