Merz said the goal of strengthening the army would be to dissuade the assault.
“Our goal is a country, a Germany and a Europe that are so strong that we never have to use our weapons,” added the new Chancellor.
At the same time, Merz promised that Germany – the second largest military aid provider in Ukraine after the United States – would continue to support kyiv. “There must be no doubt about the place where we stand,” he said. “Namely, unconditionally on the side of the Ukrainians.”
Merz also said that Germany was “very concerned about the growing proximity between Beijing and Moscow” and that Berlin will appeal to China to play its role in resolving war in Ukraine.
Since the large -scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, Germany has considerably increased military spending, although its armed forces – known as the Bundeswehr – remain in the need for investment after years of disarmament and austerity of the cold war.
For Merz, following the promise to build the largest conventional army in Europe will not be easy. General Carsten Breuer, the best German military commander, told an audience of the German council for foreign relations in April that Germany needed 100,000 additional soldiers “as quickly as possible”.
