BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The SPD’s top candidate for the European elections, Katarina Barley, has defended her sometimes criticized discussion of a European nuclear weapons strategy. “This is not a demand, but a statement, a very realistic statement. Because of course, if we think about defense policy in a more European way (.) we have to include all questions,” she said on Sunday evening in the ZDF program “Berlin Direkt”
A few days ago, in a “Tagesspiegel” interview, she expressed doubts about the reliability of the US nuclear weapons protective shield for Europe, if… Donald Trump wins the US presidential election. When asked whether the EU needed its own nuclear bombs, she replied: “On the way to a European army, that could also become an issue.”
She didn’t want to elaborate: “I think it’s good that these debates are being held where they belong, namely in the committees.” Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (both SPD) would also do this. “I don’t believe in discussing the details of such strategies in the marketplace or on talk shows.”/and/DP/he