BERLIN, February 16. /TASS/. The issue of creating a European nuclear umbrella is not an immediate priority, Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Armin Laschet said.

The politician noted that the topic should not be treated as taboo. "However, I do not consider it a priority for the German chancellor, for me or for anyone else that we should now first discuss how to secure Germany’s participation in the creation of nuclear weapons," Laschet said on broadcaster ARD.

According to him, the matter can be put on the backburner. He pointed to more urgent tasks, including raising defense spending and strengthening the economy.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 13, German Chancellor Friederich Merz said Berlin and Paris were discussing the possibility of establishing a European nuclear umbrella. Laschet explained that the issue was extremely complicated. "The question is who ultimately makes the decisions. And here Emmanuel Macron, which is logical from the point of view of French domestic politics, always proceeds from the assumption that this right belongs only to the French president and no one else," he stressed.

"He will not grant the German chancellor the right to participate in decision-making on these nuclear weapons," Laschet said. At the same time, he noted that the more actively the German chancellor discussed the matter now, the stronger the impression would be in the United States that Germany itself was renouncing the American nuclear umbrella.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also spoke cautiously on the issue. "Frankly, there are already enough nuclear weapons in the world, and we need to think seriously about whether we always need more," he said on ARD. In addition, Wadephul noted that France and the United Kingdom, as European NATO partners, already possessed nuclear weapons. There is also the American nuclear umbrella, which no one in Washington is questioning, the minister concluded.

In March 2025, Macron said in an address to the nation that he would begin discussions with allies on the possibility of extending the protection of France's nuclear deterrent to European countries. Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Denmark signaled that they were open to discussing the matter. The Financial Times has reported that US allies in Europe are exploring options for creating their own nuclear shield amid Washington’s course toward restoring relations with Russia.