BERLIN, June 14. /TASS/. The German government has adopted the country’s first ever National Security Strategy, which enshrines the main principles and measures to counter potential external threats to the state in the coming years, according to a document distributed on Wednesday.
"The determining factor" of the document’s development was Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the "Zeitenwende" or "tipping point," as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called it. According to the German government, it was necessary to create a 40-page document, enshrining the concept of ensuring security on the country’s and NATO’s territory, including in cyberspace and space, countering external influence and espionage, protecting technology and critical infrastructure facilities, managing crises, pandemics, as well as achieving sovereignty in the energy and food sectors.
The German government enshrined its NATO commitments and decided to increase defense spending by 2% of GDP. "We express our strong commitment to NATO and the EU and strengthen the Bundeswehr (the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany) to meet the primary objective of national and alliance defense (2%)," the document said. It pointed out that the authorities planned to reach the 2% increase in defense spending "over several years." "We will strengthen our security in cyberspace and space," the document stressed.
In addition, the German government said that it will reduce dependence on energy and raw materials supplies and work on their diversification. "We will reduce unilateral dependency on the supplies of raw materials and energy resources by diversifying them. We will work together with our businesses to promote raw materials projects, including creating strategic stockpiles," the document said. The German authorities said that they sought to expand national food, energy, and medicine reserves. The document also included plans to pass a law to protect critical infrastructure facilities.
Difficulties with passing National Security Strategy
This is Germany’s first-ever National Security Strategy. Initially, the document was supposed to be presented at the Munich Security Conference in February of this year, but internal disputes within the ruling party prevented that from happening. In particular, top German diplomat Annalena Baerbock tried to ensure the Foreign Ministry’s control over security policy.
Another stumbling block in the adoption of the document was the creation of the so-called National Security Council, which would coordinate decisions on foreign and security policies and assume operational management in crisis situations. In the end, the council was never created because the Chancellery and the German Foreign Ministry could not decide who should take the lead in the body.