Strack-Zimmermann on Putin: Prepares an attack on NATO

Will NATO be Putin’s next target? Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann believes so. According to her, the Russian head of state is preparing an attack on NATO. “We know that Putin is preparing to attack a NATO state, possibly in the late 1920s – although such a number is always accurate,” said the FDP defense politician in Strasbourg. She did not say where she got this information.

Strack-Zimmermann emphasized that the question is whether Europe will be able to defend itself. With regard to a possible attack by Russia on an EU country, she said: “Hoping that the Americans will help us out of this is naive.” If Putin’s success in Ukraine means that “Ukraine’s neighboring states will no longer be safe either.”

She also campaigned for sufficient military spending. When asked whether the German debt brake should also be relaxed, she said: “Anyone who has a budget of 450 billion euros a year – and therefore one of the strongest in Europe – can of course also invest in defense without going into debt .” It is a question of prioritization.

She sees her own party’s program as being closely aligned with NATO’s goals. If, for example, the NATO Secretary General says that members should invest three percent of their gross domestic product in defense, “then we will implement that.”

During its December plenary week, a majority of the European Parliament also voted to upgrade its previous defense subcommittee under the leadership of Strack-Zimmermann to a full committee. The FDP politician was already chairwoman of the Bundestag’s defense committee. Until now, the Defense Committee in the EU Parliament was attached to the foreign affairs area.