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

– , Berlin time (CET, UTC+1)
Online

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?