At the Munich Conference on Security Policy this weekend, U.S. officials have been tossing bouquets at Germany, but the shower of praise comes against a backdrop of underlying friction between the two longtime allies.
“I have great respect for Germany’s leadership in Europe and for the ethical performance of their professional troops on the battlefield,” said U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in opening remarks to the conference Friday.
But a few days earlier, at a NATO ministerial in Brussels, Mattis called out 23 NATO allies who are failing to meet their financial obligation to the alliance.
While he didn’t mention any names, Germany, anchor of the European Union with one of the strongest economies, knew it was one of the prime offenders, spending just 1.19 percent of its gross domestic product on defense, which ranks it 16th of the NATO nations, just below Albania. NATO nations are supposed to spend at least 2 percent.
Mattis met with German counterpart Ursula von der Leyen the week before at the Pentagon, and gave her a heads up of what was coming.
No one, Mattis said in Brussels, should have been surprised by America’s ultimatum to pay up or face a “moderation” of U.S. commitment to the alliance.
“The burden-sharing message I delivered was expected, and it was very well received, Mattis said. “I depart confident that the alliance will be unified in meeting today’s security challenges.”
Von der Leyen said she’s ready for increased German involvement.
“We are now increasing heavily, modernizing, investing,” von der Leyen told NPR after meeting with Mattis in Washington. “I’m determined to move on the path I’ve started to increase the investment in the armed forces, to raise the amount of soldiers and to raise the budget.”
Mattis essentially told Germany, and the other NATO free riders, to get with it.
“If your nation meets the 2 percent target, we need your help to get other allies there,” he told the ministers in a closed session, according to his prepared remarks. “If you have a plan to get there, our alliance is counting on you to accelerate your efforts and show bottom-line results. And if you do not yet have a plan, it is important to establish one soon.”
Germany is pledging to step up its game, something Vice President Mike Pence, who is in Munich for the conference, plans to reinforce in a one-on-one meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The United States, which spends more than $660 billion on defense, just over 3.6 percent, is looking for Germany, which spends about $40 billion, to set an example for the other NATO nations.
The U.S. message to Germany and other laggards is that we will defend you, but you have to show us that it’s as important to you as it is to us.
“American security is permanently tied to the security of Europe,” Mattis said in Munich, “Done correctly, European initiatives and NATO unity are mutually reinforcing.”
And it’s something Germany admits President Trump is right about.
Merkel said in public remarks ahead of the Munich meetings that Germany is not contributing to NATO “to a sufficient extent yet.”
And her defense minister wrote an opinion piece in a German newspaper in which she said “Germans and most Europeans have for too long relied on the broad shoulder of our American allies.”
But Germany also points out that its contribution to the alliance goes beyond just numbers on a spreadsheet. German troops are on the ground in Afghanistan.
Germany hosts some 30,000 U.S. troops on German soil, and U.S. European command is based in Stuttgart.
And while German troops are praised for their prowess and their equipment praised for its modern engineering, questions remain about whether the German military has adapted for the challenge of fighting terrorism or countering Russian aggression.
A recent Wall Street Journal article noted that Germany’s modest deployment of 460 troops to Lithuania, part of an NATO effort bolster the defenses on the alliance’s eastern border with Russia, was seen as “underwhelming.”
“Some current and former American officials derided the unit as a ‘Frankenbattalion,'” the Journal said, “calling it an example of Germany’s failure to shoulder its fair share of the NATO burden.”
