Germany's Merz: European nuclear 'shield' must be made stronger

Germany should talk to France and Britain about jointly increasing the European nuclear "shield", conservative leader Friedrich Merz said on Sunday.

Speaking to national public radio Deutschlandfunk, Merz, who will be Germany's next chancellor after last month's election, noted his recent talks on nuclear deterrence with French President Emmanuel Macron.

"We want to align our ideas with each other first," Merz said. "We also need to reach out to the United Kingdom. We still have two nuclear powers in Europe," he said.

"Nuclear fission" is part of NATO's concept of deterrence.

The United States allows some NATO partners, including Germany, access to nuclear bombs in the event of war, and the German air force has nuclear-capable bombers that can carry American bombs.

Merz said that talks should always be conducted within the context of complementing the US nuclear umbrella, "which we would of course like to see remain as such."

Merz stressed that Germany will not be allowed to have its own nuclear arsenal.

He pointed to at least two treaties that prevented this, including the Two Plus Four Agreement that paved the way in 1990 for German reunification.

"In it, Germany expressly renounced the possession of its own nuclear weapons and will remain so," he said. /Telegraph/