Why Germany is increasing its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region | DW News

two German warships have set sail towards the indopacific region in an effort to increase Germany's military presence in that area the Frankfurt mine ship set off on Tuesday from the northern German port of ilh hels hoffen German defense minister bis Pistoria said Rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the South China Sea were putting pressure on freedom of navigation and trade routes well for more on this let's go now to DW's Chief political correspondent nah haza Nina why is Germany sending two warships to the Indo Pacific now well basically to demonstrate on the ground that Germany is a reliable partner for all those countries in that region that like Germany believe in international corporation and the rule-based international order and believe in that principle that Chancellor Olaf schz keeps talking about what must count is the strength of the law and not the the right of the strong one so to be honest Germany neglected the indo-pacific for decades and over the last few years the recognition has grown here in Berlin that the area is becoming hugely important with all those Rising powers like India and China they're playing a more significant political role in the international institutions and the area is also hugely significant because Germany is an export focused country so it does need stability for its trade routs in that region and it needs its Partners there and Russia's illegal war against Ukraine is threatening that principle of respecting territorial Integrity worldwide and here there's a growing recognition in Berlin that politics cannot just be done via the telephone or a zoom call you need to show yourself you need your people to get to know your partners people they need to do military exercises together and practice that regularly that's what's in their indopacific guidelines that bin gave itself in 2020 and that's why they're sending those ships and also some planes from the bundes fair to the region Nina stay with us because this indopacific mission is part of a much bigger shift in Germany's approach through security and defense and we want to take a look at that because the war in Ukraine has prompted a so-called siten vender as you know or turning point in how Germany is dealing with security matters and what it's doing with its Armed Forces for the pilots of the bundes faar's air Transport Group this is a big deal finally getting a shot of the chinuk heavy lift helicopter this just a training exercise on Dutch machines the aim is for the Germans to be ready to fly in 2027 when their new chinuk arve to replace the decades old soris the new helicopter flies much faster than the old one it can transport about twice as much as our old helicopters and is equipped with the latest technology so of course it's a big step for us into the future the price tag for the 60 odd chinuk is seven bill milon EUR new hangers will be built here to house them and not only that the state-ofthe-art is really built arare defense system will also be located here at a cost of 4 billion and the runway is being widened to allow NATO aircraft to land here all of that means that this Airbase south of Berlin is been turned into one of the most important in Europe you can really see that we're making history here you can say that we will be the future home of the Air Force's heavy transport helicopters making us one of NATO's largest helicopter bases outside the US it's being paid for out of a oneoff 100 billion military modernization fund set up after Russia invaded Ukraine for decades Germany has missed NATO's 2% Target on defense spending in 2024 it hit that Target now the question is what happens once the special fund runs out to keep hitting the 2% Target the government will have to spend an extra 30 billion every year on defense that's ignited a debate about how to pay for it all glob I think the topic of security and defense is being discussed much more seriously among the population than it was a few years ago I noticed this myself regularly at different events that people have a much greater understanding of the bundes needs such sentiments May reflect a growing shift in attitudes towards the bundes faere whether it will translate into a long-term funding boost is very much up in the air Nina tell us more about this transformation taking place in German defense thinking how significant is this shift well I would say that the process is underway as we heard in the report that people are beginning to realize that the topic of defense is something that needs to be taken seriously again but of course it does require a mindset change of the population the world is not going to become a safer place anytime soon that is the principle that is guiding politicians here in Berlin we hear that all the time but of course Germany did live off the peace dividend after the collapse of Communism for decades so they got placent they were under the belief that defense can be neglected they reduced their military significantly they're only now beginning to ramp up the infrastructure again as we saw and civil protection measures um so there are lots of very concrete issues that the bundes has to deal with recruitment is one of them they don't have enough soldiers infrastructure all of these things take a lot of time and lots of money so Olaf schz is speaking of the Tian vendor that happened when Russia launched it launched it Invasion against Ukraine but Germany would have to set very clear priorities here also in terms of where the money is spent and that is not happening enough and not happening fast enough according to many experts that we talk to on a regular basis Nina thank you very much that was our chief political correspondent nah h

Channel: DW News

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Keywords: DW News, Germany, Bundeswehr, Indo-Pacific Region, Navy

Id: q2YGLAdvSXI

Length: 6min 28sec (388 seconds)

Published: Tue May 07 2024