Germany says no imminent plans to obtain nuclear weapons

BERLIN

Germany said on Monday that it has no immediate plans to acquire nuclear weapons, following a call from Chancellor Friedrich Merz's close political ally for his country to have access to the UK and France's nuclear arsenals.

"Germany is not on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons," government spokesman Stefan Merz told reporters in Berlin.

He reiterated that his government "does not seek nuclear weapons," just a day after Jens Spahn, head of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, urged his country to join the nuclear weapons umbrella of Great Britain and France.

"Europe must become capable of deterrence. For this purpose, American atomic bombs are stationed in Germany. But this is not enough in the long term. We must talk about German or European participation in the nuclear arsenal of France and Great Britain," Spahn said in an interview with the daily Welt newspaper over the weekend.

As a result of its aggressor role in World War II, Germany has committed to non-nuclear defense in international treaties, which prohibit it from acquiring nuclear weapons while also cooperating in NATO weapons-sharing agreements.

On March 9, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that he hoped the US nuclear umbrella would remain in place and that a European shield should be viewed as a "complement" to it.

He said he would contact France and Britain to discuss the sharing of nuclear weapons, but cautioned that such a move could not replace the existing US protective atomic shield over Europe.

“The sharing of nuclear weapons is an issue we need to talk about. We have to be stronger together in nuclear deterrence,” Merz told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk (DLF).

“We should talk with both countries (France and Britain) always, and in addition, from the perspective of supplementing the American nuclear shield, which we of course want to see maintained,” he added.

It is reportedly believed that about 20 US nuclear warheads are stored at the Buechel Air Base, located in southwestern Germany.

Neither NATO nor the US and German governments disclose precise numbers and locations, citing security reasons.

However, NATO has said the US has deployed a limited number of B-61 nuclear weapons to locations in Europe.

In 2022, Germany chose Buechel as the future home of 35 American-made F-35 aircraft. They will replace their aging Tornado jets, which Germany has relied on for decades.