Berlin (Reuters) – Allies’ speech about sending European peace forces to protect Ukraine as part of a possible peace agreement with Russia has caused a negative reaction in Germany, a country still marked by its Nazi militarist past, even if the perspective remains remote.
Germany Chancellor Friedrich Merz showed openness to German participation in a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, while emphasizing that such a decision would require coordination with European partners and their own government coalition.
He also noted that any shipping troops would probably require a mandate from Parliament, a challenge for a chancellor whose appointment was only approved in the second attempt. Russia is fiercely opposed to sending troops from the Western Military Alliance Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) and it is unclear how this force could work.
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Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right alternative to Germany (AFD), accused conservatives of war foster merz for considering the idea of land troops, classifying it as “dangerous and irresponsible.”
Even Merz Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul warned that the sending of troops to Ukraine “would probably overwhelm us.”
There is a discomfort in Germany regarding troops due to its Nazi past and the latest shipments to Afghanistan and Mali, which were widely seen as failures. There is also a reaction against the spending of billions of euros on military aid to Ukraine when Germany’s economy is in trouble.
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Meanwhile, policy formulators are nervous about overloading the German army, there are long neglected, and to be dragged into a direct confrontation with a nuclear power.
“Obviously, something like this is extremely controversial in Germany,” said Marcel Diresus, a non -resident researcher at the University of Kiel Security Policy Institute, adding that the government would be very careful.
“It makes no sense to spend political capital on something that may not materialize,” he said.
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These are hard waters to navigate to Merz, which, after beating this year’s elections, promised to make Germany’s most powerful conventional armed forces in Europe, with the support of hundreds of billions of euros in new loans.
Jens Spahn, Merz’s parliamentary leader’s parliamentary leader (CDU), wrote to parliamentarians asking them to abstract from publicly speculating on the issue, according to a letter that leaked to the German media.
Merz’s popularity has fallen since he took office and AFD, which has taken on Russia’s favorable positions and opposes a help with weapons to Ukraine, is leading national opinion polls before next year’s local elections. AFD posted a simulated image on Merz’s X smiling over five German young people with the words: “Merz wants to send you to Ukraine? We don’t!”
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(Report by Sarah Marsh, Matthias Williams, Rachel More and Madeline Chambers)
