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A former NATO chief and other analysts today blasted the call by the ruling coalition government in Germany to have U.S. nuclear weapons removed from the country the New York Times reported (see GSN, Nov. 9, 2009).
A report by the London-based Center for European Reform accuses Berlin of following popular opinion rather than an extended security strategy. It argues that Germany should not anticipate the same level of protection from the United States' extended nuclear deterrent if it orders the warheads removed.
"For Germany to want to remain under the nuclear umbrella while exporting to others the obligation of maintaining it, is irresponsible," reads the report, whose authors include former NATO Secretary General George Robertson.
Five European countries -- Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey -- are thought to hold approximately 200 U.S. nuclear warheads. That number is a far cry from peak Cold War levels when the United States had roughly 2,000 strategic arms positioned across the continent.
Germany Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said at the Munich Security Conference last weekend that the approximately 20 remaining U.S. nuclear warheads in his nation were "a relic of the Cold War. They no longer serve a military purpose."
The agreement formalizing the German coalition government of Free Democrats and conservatives reads that "we will, both in the [NATO] alliance and toward American allies, pursue the withdrawal of the remaining nuclear weapons from Germany."
The new report corresponds to worries that Berlin is assuming more unilateral foreign postures at a time when, as Europe's biggest economy, it ought to be engaging more through its European Union and NATO memberships.
Should Germany follow through with its demand, Berlin would "have its cake and eat it" -- promoting nuclear disarmament while reaping security benefits from other nations that continued to hold U.S. strategic arms, the report asserts. It also contends that U.S. warhead removal from Germany could cause some NATO nations, especially Baltic countries, to feel more insecure.
Berlin's Foreign Ministry had not issued a statement on the report as of press time (Judy Dempsey, New York Times, Feb. 8).