Germany’s Merz hails nuclear deterrence cooperation with France

The Franco-German cooperation is not a move to replace NATO’s nuclear umbrella, German Chancellor stressed.Germany’s military will take part in a French nuclear drill for the first time this year, as part of a new shared “deterrence” strategy, said Chancellor Friedrich Merz.The German leader highlighted the initiative during a media conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron near Cologne in Germany on Friday, saying it may mark the start of a new “doctrine”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US approves nearly $2bn in weapons sale to Saudi Arabialist 2 of 3EU sanctions nine people over alleged Russian cyber-spying campaignlist 3 of 3Will NATO get involved in securing Strait of Hormuz?end of list“We will have German conventional forces participate in a nuclear exercise conducted by the French armed forces before the end of this year,” Merz said.“We are proceeding step by step, it may be that this will result in a new doctrine, but it is far too early to say that today,” he added.Germany and France’s move to boost nuclear cooperation underscores growing European defence self-reliance amid uncertainty over US security commitments.Washington has revealed plans to cut some military assets assigned to NATO operations in Europe and US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised the transatlantic security alliance.But Merz stressed that German-Franco cooperation would not replace NATO’s nuclear umbrella, to which Germany remains committed.“This complements our commitment to NATO’s nuclear sharing and deterrence arrangements, which we continue to uphold,” Merz said.US nuclear bombs are stored in Germany as part of NATO’s nuclear deterrent and German warplanes have been certified to potentially carry the weapons in an emergency.Previous German leaders have refused offers of nuclear cooperation with France, Merz said, but “the world we live in today requires new answers”.