Merz considers extension of French, British nuclear umbrella to Germany

BERLIN – Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz has promised to talk to France and the UK about extending their nuclear protection to Germany, as Donald Trump drops hints he might renege on his NATO obligations.

"We must brace ourselves for the fact that Donald Trump will no longer unconditionally honour NATO's mutual defence commitment," conservative chancellor hopeful Friedrich Merz told German broadcaster ZDF on Friday.

Europe must "now make every effort to at least be able to defend the European continent on its own," he urged, as Trump's approach to Russia and its war in Ukraine has put transatlantic security ties into question.

The US president previously dropped hints that the US may no longer be committed to protecting other alliance members in case of an attack – an obligation under the organisation’s treaty.

Merz said on Friday that Germany would thus need to talk Europe’s two nuclear powers, France and the UK, about extending their deterrence umbrella to Germany.

"That we have to talk to the British and French whether their nuclear protection could also be extended to us is an issue that the French government has repeatedly raised with the German government," Merz said, adding that such offers had "always remained unanswered".

"We must talk to each other about what that could look like,” Merz added when asked whether he would change Germany's approach as chancellor. His party is tipped to win Sunday's national elections.

A shift away from the US and towards Western European allies would be historic for Germany and particularly Merz's CDU, who has long been staunchly committed to a transatlantic security doctrine.

An extension of the French and British nuclear deterrent to other European countries has been on the table for several years, but has gained more urgency with the gradual withdrawal of the US from Europe's security architecture.

Most recently in early 2024, France’s Emmanuel Macron had pitched the creation of a new 'strategic dialogue' on the French nuclear strategy with key European partners, and offered joint deterrence exercises.

Macron echoed this perspective in a live chat on social media on Thursday evening.

The "fundamental interests of the nation", which dictate the French president’s decision to launch the use of nuclear weapons, “have always had a European dimension,” Macron said.

“In the months and years to come, we'll be talking through this doctrine with a number of partners and decide whether, and how, we should increase this [deterrence] solidarity,” Macron said.

Unlike Britain, who is a member of NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group and whose nuclear warheads are designed in the US, France’s production is home-grown and free from any common NATO obligations, giving Paris more wiggle room to define its doctrine as it pleases, The Economist outlined last year.

[OM]