Berlin/Paris, Feb 16 (.) German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has called on France to significantly increase its defence spending, arguing that European ambitions for strategic sovereignty will remain hollow unless backed by hard, financial commitments.
In an interview with German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, Wadephul pointed directly at French President Emmanuel Macron, saying that his calls for European autonomy must be matched by domestic action, noting Paris’ own lack of action in that front.
“He repeatedly and correctly refers to our pursuit of European sovereignty,” Wadephul said of Macron. “Anyone who talks about it needs to act accordingly in their own country.”
The remarks come amid increasing unease across Europe about the reliability of long-standing US security guarantees, particularly as the transatlantic relations are facing excess strain, due to US President Donald Trump’s aggressive bid to capture Greenland.
Trump’s confrontational tone has prompted European governments to increasingly boost their own preparations in a bid to combat a possible future security crisis, one which may see a less than reliable Washington failing to aid its NATO allies.
At a NATO summit last June, member states pledged to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035, a dramatic rise from the alliance’s previous 2 pc benchmark. However, the German FM remarked that progress towards that goal has largely been uneven.
“Unfortunately, efforts in the French republic have also been insufficient to achieve this so far,” he said. “France, too, needs to do what we are doing here amid tough discussions.”
Germany has recently begun moving at an aggressively militant footing, with Berlin last year exempting most defence expenditures from its constitutional “debt brake”, a fiscal rule that normally restricts borrowing.
It has since earmarked more than €500 billion (approximately USD 545 billion) for defence between 2025 and 2029, marking a watershed moment in postwar German policy.
France, by contrast, faces tighter fiscal constraints. It currently ranks third in the European union in terms of public debt as a share of GDP, behind Greece and Italy. Ongoing tussles over budget priorities at home have complicated Paris’s ability to ramp up defence spending at the pace some allies expect.
Wadephul’s unusually direct criticism underscores broader tensions in the traditionally close Franco-German relationship, long regarded as the motor of European integration. Berlin has repeatedly rejected Macron’s calls for pooled EU debt to finance large-scale investment.
Differences have also surfaced over a proposed next-generation European fighter jet project and over a pending EU trade deal with a bloc of South American countries.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference last week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned of the continuing threat posed by Russia while simultaneously seeking to shore up transatlantic unity.
“In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone,” Merz said.
“Being a part of NATO is not only Europe’s competitive advantage. It is also the United States’ competitive advantage. So, let’s repair and revive transatlantic trust together.”
Merz, simultaneously revealed that he had initiated preliminary discussions with Macron about the possibility of Germany joining France’s nuclear umbrella, representing a radical shift in European security architecture.
The idea of expanding France’s nuclear deterrent to cover other European states has reportedly exposed fault lines within Germany’s ruling coalition, as per The Guardian, with Wadephul striking a cautious tone regarding the prospect of more robust independent European nuclear posture.
“There are enough atomic weapons in the world,” he said, warning against fuelling doubts about US commitments. He insisted that “no one in Washington is questioning” whether the US would ever use its own nuclear arsenal to defend Europe if necessary.
Germany’s vice-chancellor, Lars Klingbeil, reaffirmed Berlin’s reliance on NATO’s existing nuclear deterrence framework and ruled out any plan for Germany to acquire its own atomic weapons, an option the country renounced under international treaties decades ago.
While welcoming talks with France, he cautiously said, “We’ll see what the outcome is.”
Senior Christian Democrat leader Armin Laschet warned that overt enthusiasm for a French-led nuclear umbrella could send the wrong signal to Washington, suggesting Germany was voluntarily distancing itself from US protection.
He also noted that France would retain ultimate authority over any use of its nuclear arsenal.
“He will not give the German chancellor a say in this nuclear armament issue,” Laschet said of Macron.
Thomas Röwekamp, chair of the Bundestag defence committee, argued that Germany must shoulder greater responsibility for European security, though not by “an ill-advised attempt” at supplanting US guarantees, but rather by a “European complement within NATO” to the US’ nuclear arsenal.
France, he noted, has long contributed to European deterrence, and the current debate shows “how closely we are continuing to develop this contribution together.”
The push for stronger European defence capabilities is not limited to just political leaders, as last week, the top military chiefs of Britain and Germany issued a rare joint appeal, urging the public to accept the “moral” necessity of rearmament in the face of a possible future war with Russia.
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