On Friday, Merz said Germany would now need to look elsewhere for its defense alliances.
“We must prepare for the possibility that Donald Trump will no longer uphold NATO’s mutual defense commitment unconditionally,” Merz said in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF. “That is why, in my view, it is crucial that Europeans make the greatest possible efforts to ensure that we are at least capable of defending the European continent on our own.”
Germany is among the European countries that host U.S. nuclear weapons under NATO’s nuclear sharing policy, alongside Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium.
**Paris offered to start talks on France finding a way to share its nuclear arsenal with Germany as long ago as 2007, but President Nicolas Sarkozy received a hard “no” from Chancellor Angela Merkel.**
Subsequent French attempts at atomic diplomacy also failed to gain traction in Berlin.
Given the long history of French frustration with Berlin, Merz’s comments were welcomed by politicians, officials and analysts in France, Germany and the U.K. Even some of his political opponents acknowledge privately that talking to the British and French about nuclear protection would be a sensible step.
**“That a future chancellor, chief of the [Christian Democrats] should say that is a huge thing, I can’t think of any equivalent in the post-World War II era, but it’s commensurate with the shock that the [American] statements have caused,”** said one French official working on military policy, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
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# NATO in doubt
On Friday, Merz said Germany would now need to look elsewhere for its defense alliances.
“We must prepare for the possibility that Donald Trump will no longer uphold NATO’s mutual defense commitment unconditionally,” Merz said in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF. “That is why, in my view, it is crucial that Europeans make the greatest possible efforts to ensure that we are at least capable of defending the European continent on our own.”
Germany is among the European countries that host U.S. nuclear weapons under NATO’s nuclear sharing policy, alongside Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium.
**Paris offered to start talks on France finding a way to share its nuclear arsenal with Germany as long ago as 2007, but President Nicolas Sarkozy received a hard “no” from Chancellor Angela Merkel.**
Subsequent French attempts at atomic diplomacy also failed to gain traction in Berlin.
**Macron made a major attempt to promote the idea of a “Europeanized” French nuclear deterrence** [**in 2020** ](https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2020/02/07/discours-du-president-emmanuel-macron-sur-la-strategie-de-defense-et-de-dissuasion-devant-les-stagiaires-de-la-27eme-promotion-de-lecole-de-guerre)**and an Élysée official said Merz’s remarks showed that support was finally growing**. “In response to the invitation France sent its partners who want to discuss the significance of the president’s speech in February 2020 and the European dimension of [French] deterrence, we’ve noticed that interest has only increased, in particular since the war in Ukraine,” the official from the presidential office said.
Given the long history of French frustration with Berlin, Merz’s comments were welcomed by politicians, officials and analysts in France, Germany and the U.K. Even some of his political opponents acknowledge privately that talking to the British and French about nuclear protection would be a sensible step.
**“That a future chancellor, chief of the [Christian Democrats] should say that is a huge thing, I can’t think of any equivalent in the post-World War II era, but it’s commensurate with the shock that the [American] statements have caused,”** said one French official working on military policy, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.