German army will be strongest in Europe, vows Scholz
THE German army has spent too long drilling wells and stemming floods, Olaf Scholz said yesterday, as he promised to turn his military into “the best equipped” on the Continent.
Speaking at an army conference, the German chancellor admitted that his country had sustained an illusion that it was surrounded only by friends, with harmful results for its armed forces.
Mr Scholz, 64, said that “for a long time our country avoided a true prioritisation of the tasks of its army”.
He said that, while the country was grateful to soldiers for drilling wells, stemming floods and helping with Covid vaccinations, “that is not their core mission”, which should be “to defend freedom in Europe”.
He said he aims to turn the German military into “the central pillar” of European conventional defences.
Days after Russia invaded Ukraine last February, Mr Scholz announced a “new era” in German defence spending, pledging €100billion (£87billion) to modernise its forces. However, yesterday’s speech by Mr Scholz disappointed those who had expected him to approve the supply of battle tanks to Kyiv.