German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in a speech in Berlin on Friday highlighted Germany's plan for the new national security strategy in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Baerbock called for a new security strategy, including a focus on cybersecurity, a new China strategy, an energy policy that includes moving away from fossil energy sources and moving faster towards efficient renewable energy, and climate diplomacy.
She made the comments ahead of a panel discussion among various German lawmakers. During her speech, Baerbock talked about the need for an inclusive approach to national security, including international partners, saying that "security policy is more than just the military plus diplomacy," reported DW News.
"We are seeing that cyber attacks are an integral part of modern warfare," she said.
She also announced that Berlin will develop a new China strategy alongside the new security strategy, citing the instability in countries where Beijing has invested in infrastructure, such as in Africa.
Energy policy also plays a key role, especially following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But Baerbock said the decisions that are being hotly debated currently at the EU level should have been discussed eight years ago when Russia annexed Crimea but added that "it is not important to note who knew what in the past, it is important to get it right now.
"We need to move away from fossil energy sources and move faster towards efficient renewable energy sources," the Green party minister said. "This is not only investment in clean energy it is also investing in our security and our freedoms as well."
She called the climate crisis "the security crisis of our time." The minister stressed that global warming is already happening and is exacerbating security problems in fragile states.
"This is why climate diplomacy is an integral part of our security strategy. Every ton less of CO2, every tenth of a degree less of global warming is a contribution to human security," she added.
She said that "tripwire" logic, where NATO forces are stationed in Eastern Europe when they feel under threat, is no longer sufficient, reported DW News.
"Our military exercises need to reflect new realities and we need to factor in that the eastern flank of the alliance is under a new threat, so we need more NATO presence in southeastern European countries," she said. "Germany will make a substantial contribution to that in Slovakia."
"In the light of Russia's massive breach of our peace order, we need to implement the principles that guide us even more clearly into practical politics," she said.
"Decisive for me is a clear stance, a stronger ability to act and sharper tools for foreign and security policy," the foreign minister said.
Reflecting back in time, the Foreign Minister said that Germany has a "special responsibility" that comes from its history and guilt for atrocities in the Second World War.
"It is [our] obligation to stand by those whose lives, whose freedom and whose rights are at stake," she said, reported DW News.
Speaking upon the international cooperation on defense, Baerbock said, "Our strength is international unity." "The EU is currently formulating for the first time an extensive security policy strategy" which she says was initiated by Germany.
"This war shows once more, that the security of Europe depends on NATO's collective defense," she said, arguing that Germany's security should be complementary with EU and NATO security policies.
