The Minister of Economy for North Rhine‑Westphalia, Mona Neubaur of the Greens, is demanding that the federal government bring the Länder (states) into the implementation of Germany’s security‑policy shift-what the press calls the “Zeitenwende”.
Neubaur says that real defence capability is built on the ground, not on white‑paper agreements. “We need a genuine partnership between the federal government and the regions to make this pivot work” she told the newspaper “Welt”. “Decisions must be taken in the Länder, not only in Berlin”.
She argues that federal directives can only be effective when states give up land, issue quick permits, provide skilled workers and maintain regional innovation ecosystems. “Those elements are essential for turning policy into action” she said. “If we keep ignoring the Länder, the federal decisions will continue to have no real impact”.
According to “Welt”, Neubaur wrote a scathing letter to Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD). In it, she praised the federal government for launching a special fund and investment incentives, yet warned that the states have still not been considered strategically enough or integrated into federal plans. “Given the urgency of the situation, this deficit cannot be tolerated any longer” she wrote.
The politician insists that a far stronger, systematic inclusion of the Länder is mandatory for the ongoing strategic development of the Zeitenwende. She proposes a joint conference between the federal government and the Länder to strengthen the defence industry. The focus of such a conference would be to develop a shared situational picture, clarify the responsibilities of each side, align existing initiatives, and establish a reliable format for future cooperation-enabling faster, more effective, and better‑tailored implementation of federal objectives.
Neubaur stresses that the Länder are the central enablers of investment, relocation, and industrial capacity building. Land availability, streamlined approval processes, skill development, infrastructure, and regional funding tools largely reside within state responsibilities. “The decisions that set the course are made at the state and municipal level” she said. “The democratic negotiation and participation processes that happen there are what keep societal support for the Zeitenwende alive in the long run”.
