Photo: ukrinform
Disrupted ties with the United States are prompting Berlin to rethink its role in European security.
Major General Christian Freuding of the German Army, head of the Planning and Leadership Staff at the Federal Ministry of Defence, told The Atlantic that American soldiers had long been seen by Germans as reliable and as the embodiment of a U.S.-led order.
But, he says, that order is now fading. Freuding explained that he could once send text messages to American defense counterparts “day and night,” but recently communications with colleagues in Washington have been “interrupted.”
“The Trump administration, for example, did not inform us in advance about its decision to pause certain weapons deliveries to Ukraine. To get information on U.S. policy, I had to reach out to the German embassy in Washington, where ‘someone tries to find someone in the Pentagon,’” he said.
The exact timing of the pause in shipments is not specified in the article, but since the interview was conducted last summer, it is assumed that the suspension also occurred during the summer.
Freuding added that Germany has realized it needs to rearm. The country is spending billions on weapons and repurposing civilian industries for arms production. The government has pledged to turn the army into the strongest in Europe.
“Not long ago, such plans would have caused international concern. But as the United States upends the world order it built, Germany may have no other choice,” Freuding said.
