Steinmeier: Europe must do more to ensure deterrence
The German president has a clear message for Washington and Moscow at the Peace Conference, saying that Europe must do a lot more for its own security and defence.
Münster (dpa) - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on Europe to undertake greater efforts for its security and defence. “We Europeans must now focus on what is important to us. And we must take greater care of our own protection,” Steinmeier urged at the start of the second Westphalian Peace Conference in Münster. In a reference to the policies being followed by the governments in Moscow and Washington, he spoke of a “double epochal shift”. The German president said that EU states were currently investing 326 billion euros per year in defence, but that this was not enough in view of a completely changed threat level. “We know that we must jointly do more for deterrence and defence.”
400 guests attended the second Westphalian Peace Conference. Following the conference, President Steinmeier presented 103-year-old Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer with the “Special Prize of the International Award of the Peace of Westphalia”. Steinmeier paid tribute to Friedländer’s unflagging commitment to keeping memories alive and to humanity, tolerance, peace and democracy. “You not only help us remember. You educate people about what led Germany into the abyss before 1933,” he said.