A common anti-aircraft defense system in the EU is requested by Soltz – “Aim to never again be a war between the members”

“Europe is our future and our future is in our hands“, the chancellor said Olaf Solz from Prague and stood up for it further enlargement of the European Union to include the countries of the Western Balkans and eventually also Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, while reinstating the request for a gradual transition to majority decision-making and suggested coordination of the defense capabilities of the member states and common anti-aircraft defense.

The chancellor, during his speech at Charles University, entitled “Europe is our future”, repeatedly emphasized Germany’s commitment to strengthening Europe’s sovereignty and autonomy. He was directly in favor of the enlargement of the Union, while warning that in an enlarged Europe “differences between member states, in terms of political and economic interests and social systems, will grow and, where unanimity is currently required, with each member state the risk of a country using its veto will increase, preventing and the rest to proceed”. I have, for this reason, “proposes a gradual transition to majority decision-making in the common foreign policy, but also in other areas such as taxation – knowing full well that this would also have consequences for Germanyadded Mr. Soltz.

The chancellor further emphasized that the Russian attack on Ukraine “it is also an attack on the European security order” and asked greater military cooperation between the member states, as, as he said, today there are many and often in Europe incompatible weapon systems, which leads to a limitation of efficiency and an increase in maintenance costs. A jointly built air defense system “it would be a security gain for all of Europe”, he noted and added that it would also be more economical than when each member state has to create its own, expensive and highly complex anti-aircraft defense. Germany will invest significantly in its air defense, he continued, and emphasized that its planning should be done in a way that takes into account neighboring countries, such as the Netherlands, Poland, the Baltic states, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Scandinavian countries. “The aim of the EU was that there should never again be a war between its members. But today the Union must further develop this promise of peace in order to guarantee its security, independence and stability, even in the face of external challenges (…) Any of our weaknesses will be grist to Putin’s mill”, pointed out Olaf Solz, at the same time emphatically clarifying that “NATO remains the guarantor of our security”, and assuring that Germany’s defense capabilities, which are expected to increase in the near future, will at all times be available to NATO.

Referring to Ukraine, the chancellor highlighted the need European countries to coordinate in order to be able to support its struggle in the most effective way and announced that on October 25th a meeting will be held in Germany on the subject of the reconstruction of the country, in cooperation with the EU. Our help will be reliable and for as long as needed, he said.

The chancellor asked further greater economic autonomy of Europe, pointing out that dependencies like the one on microchips found in the past should not be repeated. “European responses are needed at this turning point”, he said characteristically and mentioned that raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel are also available in Europe. On fiscal policy, he underlined the need for common rules in the eurozone and added that citizens need a strong currency that can withstand times of crisis, while praising the solidarity framework created during the pandemic.

From Charles University, Mr. Soltz also referred to the Velvet Revolution and pointed out that Europe will not tolerate violations of the rule of law, phenomena of racism and anti-Semitism.

RES-EMP

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