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The writer is the president of France and the Prime Minister of Germany.
As we head towards the NATO summit in The Hague, there is chaos all around us. War rage, norms are eroded, old certainty is being challenged. During these tests, Germany and France, along with their friends and allies across Europe and across Atlantic, stand united and powerfully in defending our shared values and civil liberties and security.
The main source of European instability comes from Russia, which has fought imperialist wars, accompanied by the invasion of Georgia in 2008 and the invasion of Crimea and Donbass in 2014. All of Ukraine in 2022. On the Russian side, there are systematic attempts to exercise forced leadership through neighbors, destabilizing European countries and challenge global order. Because our purpose is to protect and preserve peace on our continent.
As long as the current trajectory continues, Russia will find unwavering resolve in France and Germany. What is at risk will determine the stability of Europe for the next few decades.
At the NATO summit, France and Germany reaffirm their support in their efforts to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty and our security, have solid and lasting peace and end the war. It particularly highlights the urgent need for a ceasefire, supported by a resolve to increase pressure on Russia, including sanctions. We assure you that Ukraine will be born from this thriving, robust and safe war and will never live again under the fear of Russian invasion.
A lot is already being done. The EU, its members, and the UK are providing Kyiv with 130 billion euros of support. Together they condemned and approved Russia. There’s something more to come. Increased support for the Ukrainian military. Collectively invest in the Ukrainian defence industry. Furthermore, it is coordinated with the UK to ensure that Ukraine’s future military is large enough and equipped to stop new invasions.
However, our responsibility exceeds Ukraine. We will live in the near future in a deeply unstable environment and a world where allies have other dilemmas and priorities. Beyond Russia, we face many challenges, from terrorism to protecting territory, citizens and interests around the world. We must face these challenges. Not because someone asks us, but because we are seeing and owe it to our citizens to do so.
France and Germany are currently spending more than 2% of their GDP on defense. We will ultimately exceed that with the aim of reaching 3.5% in core defense spending and 1.5% in broader costs that contribute to defence efforts. This is a way to strengthen NATO’s European pillar.
The French and German troops are already deployed on the eastern side of Europe as “framework countries” of Lithuania and Romania. Our forces make significant contributions in European airspaces supporting the intelligence, space and cyber operations of the Alliance in Poland and Estonia, the Baltic and Mediterranean Sea, and Europe.
Additional costs can close the gap in military capabilities faced by revisionist Russia. We work with all our allies to maintain the reliability of our attitudes in all domains.
Nuclear deterrence will continue to be the cornerstone of the security of the alliance. France’s independent strategic nuclear forces contribute significantly to the overall security of NATO. And Germany is contributing to the alliance’s nuclear sharing arrangement. Furthermore, we will work towards reforming our procurement systems by applying the “three Ss”: standardization, simplification and scale.
We will also work to ensure good cooperation between the EU and NATO. Stronger, more capable European defenses are proactively contributing to global and transatlantic security, complementing NATO and interoperable. This is essential to filling key capacity gaps through industrial investment at the European level and maintaining technology advantages.
In a nutshell, our resolve to be united to all threats, provide support for Ukraine, and develop Europe’s defensive capabilities and industrial base through increased defence spending and investment are all part of the same equation. We clearly reaffirm the unity, solidarity and our commitment to freedom, peace and security on our continent.
