Merz open to France's idea of expanding nuclear shield in Europe

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

Future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reiterated today that he is open to the idea of ​​France expanding its nuclear shield in Europe as the continent seeks a response to the transatlantic alliance with the new administration of US President Donald Trump.

"We simply have to become stronger together in nuclear deterrence in Europe," said Merz, whose conservative party won the most votes in the recent parliamentary elections.

Merz told Deutschlandfunk radio that the global situation, especially current security issues, now requires a response from Europe.

"We Europeans need to discuss this issue together," Merz added, emphasizing that the United Kingdom, the second nuclear power in Western Europe after France, should be included in the conversation.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that he would open a debate on expanding France's nuclear deterrence to other European nations, following Merz's call on the subject.

The leader of Germany’s conservatives recently said he wanted to discuss “nuclear sharing” with Paris and London.

Trump, at the start of his second term in the White House, surprised his European allies by changing U.S. policy on Ukraine and threatening a historic break with Europe.

Merz stressed that any talks in Europe would be aimed at “supplementing the U.S. nuclear umbrella, which Europe wants to keep.”

The German official made it clear that his country cannot, and will not, be allowed to possess nuclear weapons of its own.

Germany cannot acquire its own nuclear weapons without violating an international non-proliferation treaty to which it is a signatory.

Since Trump’s return to the White House, some in Germany, including members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, have advocated for the country to acquire its own nuclear weapons.

That prompted Merck, whose CDU/CSU bloc is in coalition talks with the Social Democrats to form a government, to announce a multi-billion euro investment program for rearmament and defense last week.