Europe must hurry to ensure it can better defend itself, as new military threats could emerge by the end of the decade, even as the focus of its security ally, the US, shifts to the Indo- Pacific, said the German Defense Minister.

Russia is significantly ramping up weapons production to support its invasion of Ukraine, while also threatening the Baltic states, Georgia and Moldova, he is reported to have said. Boris Pistorius in an interview he gave to the newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

In the meantime the US is likely to reduce its military engagement in Europe as it turns more towards the Indo-Pacific region.

“We Europeans should commit more to guaranteeing security on our continent,” Pistorius noted, pointing out however that it will take time for the region to increase its own weapons production.

“We have about 5-8 years to cover, in terms of the armed forces, industry and society,” he said.

Europe is clear it may also have to match US aid to Ukraine if Washington does not agree to new funding, he added.

The election of a more pro-European government in Poland should now allow the Weimar Triangle of Berlin, Paris and Warsaw to further develop their military cooperation, he continued.

“We have to find the best way to establish ourselves on the eastern flank based on NATO’s defense plans,” he noted, saying he wants to travel to Poland as soon as possible next year.

Pistorius also said he does not currently foresee the German armed forces repeating missions as large as those they conducted in Afghanistan and Mali.

In Afghanistan, the German army conducted its first ground battles since the end of the Second World War.

“However small missions, particularly in the field of military advice or cooperation, also with countries that do not necessarily share our values, will be necessary,” he added.

“The alternative would be to no longer have contacts with these countries and simply hand them over to the Russians and the Chinese and that would be much more dangerous,” the German defense minister concluded.