Sigmar Gabriel, chair of the Atlantik‑Brücke and former German deputy chancellor, argues that new EU‑wide borrowing for defence projects is inevitable. He also calls on Germany to provide direct backing for France’s and Poland’s military efforts.
Gabriel tells German newspapers that “the financial Taliban of Europe can no longer be played by the Germans”. He points out that while Germany often claims defence spending is a national budget matter, in practice much of those costs could soon be financed almost entirely through debt.
He says the Draghi report rightly calls for joint EU borrowing to finance European defence, noting that the cost is high but that the risk from Russian troops on Poland’s border is even greater. “The danger grows every month” he says. “Should we wait until the first drone flies over Berlin?”
Gabriel also proposes that Germany and France pool their defence budgets and finance the combined effort with Germany’s AAA credit rating. “This would ease the French coffers and demonstrate the real value of our German‑French friendship” he argues, criticizing the often unproductive rhetoric that focuses on France’s decline.
Regarding Poland, Gabriel suggests that with 3.5 % of GDP earmarked for defence, 0.5 % of that should go straight into NATO funds to strengthen the eastern flank. He urges imagination to turn talk into practical action.
On the topic of a European nuclear weapon, Gabriel is skeptical. He says that a “right thing at the wrong time” is typically wrong, and that if a country can’t defend itself conventionally, it should not be brooding over nuclear options. He doubts a U.S. president would deploy nuclear weapons even if Russia attacked the Baltics, and stresses that the answer lies in making Europe’s conventional defence so strong that Putin would be deterred before thinking about an attack.
