New Delhi: Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has declared the intention to pool efforts with European neighbors to create a new common air defense system in the EU. He was speaking at the Charles University in Prague on Monday. His statement was streamed on the German government’s website.
“A system created by joint efforts would be a security benefit for the whole of Europe,” Scholz said, adding that it would be less costly and more efficient than any solutions at the national level.
Scholz said over years to come Germany would invest much more in strengthening its air defense system and build it in such a way that its European neighbors could also participate. Among likely partners, Scholz mentioned the Netherlands, Poland, the Baltic countries, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, as well as the Scandinavian states. Scholz believes that Europe must eliminate its lagging behind in such matters as protection against threats from the air and outer space.
There is an ongoing Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) program within NATO, based upon a shared threat assessment of a need to protect NATO forces against attack from short-range ballistic missiles (already possessed by many states) in the field.
However, even if Putin does consider NATO as a major threat and launches preemptive strikes, the bloc’s advanced defense systems could target and intercept the nuclear weapons before they cause untold damage.
(Vinayak)