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Germany boosts defense role at NATO summit · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: Germany's Chancellor, Fleidlick Matz has arrived in Anchor for the
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  Speaker 1: NATO summit as well, underscoring Berlin's commitment to strengthening NATO's
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  Speaker 1: collective defense. Before departing, Berlin, Chancellor for Lytic mats stressed
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  Speaker 1: that Germany has doubled its defense spending since twenty twenty two,
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  Speaker 1: saying the increase was necessary for the country's defense and
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  Speaker 1: security following decades of post Cold War austerity. Germany has
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  Speaker 1: sharply increased military investments since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine,
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  Speaker 1: with his defense budget set to exceed the equivalent of
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  Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty five billion US dollars in twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty seven. Germany's armed forces expanded rapidly in the early
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  Speaker 1: nineteen sixties and stated around half a million personnel during
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  Speaker 1: the Cold War. After German reunification in the early nineteen nineties,
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  Speaker 1: those numbers fell dramatically before leveling out at under two
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  Speaker 1: hundred thousand. You can see the dip in twenty eight
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  Speaker 1: eleven when Germany ended conscription, a debate that's recently been
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  Speaker 1: reopened here.
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  Speaker 2: Well.
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  Speaker 1: Dw's Max Hoffmann, the head of our Berlin bureau joins
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  Speaker 1: us now from the summit. He's traveled there with German
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  Speaker 1: Chancellor Max. Europe is under huge pressure, of course, to
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  Speaker 1: take on more responsibility for his own defense. What does
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  Speaker 1: this mean specifically for Germany?
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  Speaker 3: I think, Terry, what we need to remember the beginning
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  Speaker 3: is that Germany has already taken on a lot more
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  Speaker 3: responsibility than in the past. That image that we or
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  Speaker 3: a lot of people had of Germany being a free
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  Speaker 3: writer in NATO, that is a thing of the past.
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  Speaker 3: It has really stepped up financially, is spending double what
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  Speaker 3: it's spent on defense four years ago when the war
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  Speaker 3: in Ukraine started, and it's also taking over more command
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  Speaker 3: posts in NATO. Having said that, of course, what's really
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  Speaker 3: lacking is the build up of military capabilities, or at
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  Speaker 3: least the military capabilities, because that's what really takes time.
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  Speaker 3: German Chancellor Mattz famously said that he wanted to establish
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  Speaker 3: the largest and the most powerful conventional army in Europe,
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  Speaker 3: and if he really is serious about that, that is
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  Speaker 3: just a long way and will take many more years
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  Speaker 3: to establish.
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  Speaker 1: What does this rush to boost military spending in NATO
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  Speaker 1: and beyond mean for German defense companies.
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  Speaker 3: Max Well, generally, you know, the environment for defense companies
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  Speaker 3: is very favorable at the moment because there's just so
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  Speaker 3: much money going around. That doesn't mean that all of
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  Speaker 3: the defense companies are doing well. It really depends on
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  Speaker 3: the projects. If a project fails for a certain company,
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  Speaker 3: then the stock will go down, which happened for rain
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  Speaker 3: Mittel lately. But here what's being discussed is a new
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  Speaker 3: deal by TKMS, a joint venture with the Norwegians, and
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  Speaker 3: they're selling up to twelve submarines to the Canadians. That
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  Speaker 3: is a huge deal. It might even be the biggest
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  Speaker 3: defense deal in the history of Germany. So that's what's
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  Speaker 3: been put in the limelight here at the NATO summit. Obviously,
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  Speaker 3: the German Chancellor even met his Canadian and Norwegian counterpart here,
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  Speaker 3: the prime ministers of those countries, to celebrate that deal together.
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  Speaker 3: And if I may, there was a there was a
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  Speaker 3: sort of amusing episode there where Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister,
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  Speaker 3: told the Norwegian that he had to he had to
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  Speaker 3: also make the Norwegian striker Holland, part of that deal. Holland,
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  Speaker 3: of course, the striker who was being super successful at
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  Speaker 3: the World Cup at the moment, but the Norwegian Prime
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  Speaker 3: Minister said that was not in the carts.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so the summit is continuing. Tomorrow is another day,
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  Speaker 1: another big day. What are Chancellor Mounts' priorities at this NATO? Max,
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  Speaker 1: What would a what would make a successful summit from
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  Speaker 1: his perspective?
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  Speaker 3: Well, besides from keeping the US President Donald Trump in
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  Speaker 3: the fold, as you've already discussed with my colleague Terry Schultz,
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  Speaker 3: the main priority for the Germans is obviously with Ukraine
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  Speaker 3: because it's it's a threat. Russia is a threat that's
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  Speaker 3: so close to Germany, and so the Germans really want
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  Speaker 3: a pledge for Ukraine, to have assign a unity from
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  Speaker 3: here towards Russia, saying that they all stand behind Ukraine
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  Speaker 3: and obviously get more money for Ukraine. That seems to
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  Speaker 3: be a done deal from the Europeans with seventy billion
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  Speaker 3: euros this year and another seventy billion euros next year,
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  Speaker 3: so that that is very important financially, and to also
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  Speaker 3: have that pledge.
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  Speaker 1: Well there's just no getting around, you know, the Donald
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  Speaker 1: Trump in the room. How would you describe Chancellor Mounts
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  Speaker 1: as rapport with President Max?
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  Speaker 3: It's hard to tell. At the moment, and as far
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  Speaker 3: as we can tell, of course, that can change throughout
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  Speaker 3: the summit. Is there's not going to be a bilateral
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  Speaker 3: meeting between the German Chancellor Matz and President Trump. Could
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  Speaker 3: happen spontaneously, you don't know. But the remarks that Trump
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  Speaker 3: made on arrival here don't bode that well because he criticized,
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  Speaker 3: heavily criticized NATO allies, and he named some of them,
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  Speaker 3: among them Germany. We know that in the past weeks
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  Speaker 3: the relationship between Matts and Trump has been contentious. Time
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  Speaker 3: might smooth things over, but as of now it seems
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  Speaker 3: to be more in this rocky territory, maybe in the
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  Speaker 3: phase where things relax a little bit, but of course
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  Speaker 3: the NATO summit like this might stir them up again
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  Speaker 3: because for Donald Trump, it's not Ukraine on the forefront
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  Speaker 3: of things, but Iran. And we heard what he thinks
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  Speaker 3: about that before.
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  Speaker 1: Max, Thank you so much. C w's Max Hopeland, the
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  Speaker 1: head of our Berlin bureau. German naval shipbuilder TKMS has
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  Speaker 1: secured a multi billion euro contract from Canada to build
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  Speaker 1: up to twelve submarines. The vessels will be constructed at
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  Speaker 1: the company's shipyards and Kiel and Wismar to coastal towns
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  Speaker 1: in northern Germany before being delivered to North America. For TKMS.
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  Speaker 1: It's the third NATO partner who acquires the new twelve
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  Speaker 1: to twelve CD submarine after purchases for the German and
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  Speaker 1: Norwegian Navy.
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  Speaker 4: Canada's decision to join Norway on the program is both
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  Speaker 4: a windfall for German shipbuilder TKMS and a geostrategic statement.
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  Speaker 4: The deal itself is worth up to sixty two billion
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  Speaker 4: euros according to media reports, and is expected to create
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  Speaker 4: hundreds of new jobs in German shipyards. It also stands
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  Speaker 4: to bring NATO allies Canada and Germany closer together economically
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  Speaker 4: and strategically, as submarines need decades long maintenance, technology transfer
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  Speaker 4: and updates. It's Canada's largest ever procurement project, and according
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  Speaker 4: to the Prime Minister, it's critical to the country security.
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  Speaker 2: These new submarines, combined with the world's second largest fleet
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  Speaker 2: of ice breakers, combined with new aircraft, new radar, more
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  Speaker 2: missiles and drones, better cyber defenses, new ports and air bases,
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  Speaker 2: are allowing Canada to assert our full sovereignty in the Arctic.
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  Speaker 4: The two to twelve CD submarine is among the most
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  Speaker 4: advanced conventional submarines ever built. The fuel cell air independent
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  Speaker 4: propulsion allows for more than forty days fully submerged in
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  Speaker 4: near total silence. Canada rejected a bid from South Korea's
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  Speaker 4: Hanwak Group. TKMS now hopes the growing partnership can make
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  Speaker 4: the two to twelve CD sub the new NATO standard,
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  Speaker 4: making further participation from other nations even more attractive, and
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  Speaker 4: the future looks bright beyond NATO partners, TKMS is also
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  Speaker 4: nearing the finalization of a deal with India to build
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  Speaker 4: six submarines. It's also pitching U boats to the Philippine Navy,
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  Speaker 4: which is seeking to acquire its first submarines ever.