Zeitenwende: Germany as a pioneer in foreign and security policy?
A webinar on Germany’s change of course in defence spending amid the ongoing war in Ukraine
Guests
Sophia Besch, Senior Policy Fellow, European Centre for Reform
Sergey Lagodinsky, Member of the European Parliament and Russia policy speaker of the Greens/EFA Group
Nils Schmid, Member of the Bundestag and foreign policy speaker of the SPD
Chaired by
Jana Puglierin, Head of office & Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR Berlin
Breaking with tradition, Chancellor Scholz announced that the German government intends to surpass the goal of committing 2% of GDP on defence spending, and pledged to establish a special fund of €100 billion which is to be rooted in the German constitution.
But there’s a long road ahead for pushing this agenda through. This discussion will cover the following questions:
- Why did it take Germany so long to come to this decision?
- How did the traffic light coalition push it through seemingly over night?
- What are the political ramifications – will this be the birth of a geopolitical Germany?