Chairman of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee: The issue of creating a European nuclear umbrella is not a top priority

BERLIN - The issue of creating a European nuclear umbrella is not an immediate priority, said Armin Laschet, chairman of the Bundestag's foreign affairs committee.

The politician noted that this topic should not be taboo. „But I do not consider it a priority for the German Chancellor, for me or for anyone else, that we now first discuss how to secure Germany's participation in the creation of nuclear weapons,“ Laschet told ARD.

He said the issue could be postponed. He pointed to more pressing tasks, including increasing defence spending and strengthening the economy.

At the Munich Security Conference on 13 February, the German Chancellor Friederich Merz said Berlin and Paris were discussing the possibility of creating a European nuclear umbrella. Laschet explained that this issue is extremely complex. „The question is who ultimately makes the decisions. And here Emmanuel Macron, which is logical in terms of French domestic politics, always assumes that this right belongs only to the French president and no one else,“ he stressed.

„It will not give the German chancellor the right to participate in the decision-making on these nuclear weapons,“ Laschet said. At the same time, he noted that the more actively the German chancellor discussed the issue now, the stronger the impression would be in the United States that Germany itself was giving up the US nuclear umbrella.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also expressed caution on this issue. „Frankly, there are already enough nuclear weapons in the world and we need to think seriously about whether we always need more,“ Wadephul also noted that France and the United Kingdom, as European partners in NATO, already possess nuclear weapons. There is also a US nuclear umbrella, which no one in Washington questions, the minister concluded.

In his March 2025 address to the nation, Macron said he would begin discussions with allies about the possibility of extending French nuclear deterrent protection to European countries. Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Denmark have signalled their willingness to discuss the issue.

The Financial Times reported that US allies in Europe are exploring the possibility of creating their own nuclear shield in the context of Washington's policy of restoring relations with Russia.

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