Political scientist pushes for European nuclear weapon

With regard to Putin and the war in Ukraine, experts see too little deterrent power in Europe. Now they are demanding concrete measures.

Munich – The Ukraine war has reignited security policy discussions in this country. Especially in view of Russia's atomic bombs, there is fear in Europe that the Kremlin will expand the war and attack other countries.

But how should Europe protect itself? The German political scientist Herfried Münkler is now proposing a drastic step: a common European arsenal of nuclear weapons.

European atomic bomb against Putin?

“The European atomic bomb would be a decisive step towards strategic autonomy and its own deterrent force. This deterrent force should be built up as quickly as possible,” said Münkler World. Several states should have the arsenal together. “The states of the Weimar Triangle, i.e. France, Germany, Poland plus two southern Europeans, i.e. Madrid and Rome, have nuclear weapons in joint decision-making power, so: the suitcase with the red button circulates between the states mentioned,” he said.

The reason for joint European action is the risk that the USA could turn away from Europe as a protective power. With France and Great Britain, two nuclear powers remained in Europe. Nuclear disarmament, however, is completely unrealistic. Russia around Wladimir Putin Münkler believes that without its raw materials and nuclear weapons it would have no significance in global politics.

Meanwhile, Carlo Masala from the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich is in favor of a “European nuclear umbrella” if “the Americans no longer guarantee protection.” In conversation with the newspapers Funke Media Group Masala advises exploring with France, whose nuclear strategy has so far been purely national. “Perhaps it will be possible to change this so that France would, under certain circumstances, be prepared to defend neighboring European states with its nuclear weapons.” He also wants to bring the second nuclear power Great Britain on board. At least there will be no nuclear suitcase stored in Brussels or “traveling back and forth between European capitals.” Such demands are nonsense, says Masala.

German atomic bomb “anti-European”?

Markus Kaim from the Science and Politics Foundation (SWP) also considers this possibility to be unrealistic, as he wrote in a guest article for the Mirror wrote. One problem, for example, is the uncertainty about control in an emergency, especially from a German perspective: “It does not appear to be an acceptable model for German security policy that Berlin co-pays for European nuclear weapons but has no influence whatsoever on their use,” said Kaim, who has three options for Germany sees: a rapprochement with forces like Russia or China, simply accepting a possible loss of protection from the USA or arming Germany with nuclear weapons. The latter is a “sharp break with the traditions of German foreign policy”.