New Coalition Of Government Agrees Germany To Stay In NATO Nuclear Treaty

Illustration: NATO Headquarter. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Department of State)

JAKARTA - The new German government under a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Green Party, and the Liberal FDP will allow the country to remain part of the NATO nuclear sharing agreement.

This is based on a document the coalition agreed to jointly last Wednesday, a move that would prevent a rift in the Western military alliance at a time of heightened tensions with Russia.

To note, despite not having nuclear weapons, Germany hosted the United States nuclear bomb which was intended to be carried by German Tornado fighter jets to the target in the event of a conflict.

It is not yet clear how the future government will handle the issue, as some lawmakers in the new coalition oppose Berlin's participation in the nuclear sharing deal.

Nevertheless, the coalition agreement supports the fulfillment of Germany's commitments to NATO.

"As long as nuclear weapons play a role in NATO's strategic concepts, Germany has an interest in participating in strategic discussions and planning processes," the document said, referring to the Berlin seat in NATO's Nuclear Planning Group.

The new coalition also aims to replace the German air force's old Tornado fighter jets, the only German Air Force or Bundeswehr aircraft fitted to carry US nuclear bombs.

The German air force has been flying the jets since the 1980s. Germany's Ministry of Defense plans to phase it out between 2025 and 2030, as maintenance is expensive and spare parts are difficult to find.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government had intended to buy Boeing's F-18 as a replacement, but the decision was postponed until 2022.

Separately, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week US nuclear weapons might be moved further east if Germany walked out of the nuclear sharing deal, a move that would anger Russia.

The coalition deal also includes a deal to arm the next generation of German military drones. Some Social Democrats had previously opposed doing so.

Meanwhile, the chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan in August will be the subject of a parliamentary investigation, according to the coalition agreement.