This is part six of a series examining the challenges confronting the NATO alliance.
Germany is pledging to become a more powerful military force inside NATO, with Berlins ambassador to Washington telling Fox News Digital that the country is ready to assume greater responsibility for European security after decades in which the United States carried much of the alliances military burden.
“Germany is stepping up â we heard the call!” German Ambassador to the United States Jens Hanefeld told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
has said Germanys armed forces should become the strongest conventional army in Europe, a goal Hanefeld said is now backed by Berlins new military strategy.
“Russias illegal war of aggression has shaken old certainties in Europe and Germany as the international rules we have relied on are being challenged,” Hanefeld said. “This changes the strategic environment we operate in.”
“Today, Germany is s largest supporter,” Hanefeld said in written answers. “Germanys decision to become Europes strongest conventional army, well anchored in the NATO alliance, is an ongoing commitment.”
The shift marks a historic turn for a country whose postwar military identity was built around restraint.Â
After World War II, West Germany was allowed to rearm only within a Western alliance framework, joining NATO in 1955 and building the Bundeswehr as a force embedded in collective defense rather than independent German power. For decades after reunification, Germany relied heavily on the U.S. security umbrella and often lagged behind , feeding repeated American complaints that Europes largest economy was not pulling its weight.
Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 forced Berlin to begin rethinking that posture. Then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the shift a “Zeitenwende,” or turning point. Merz is now seeking to turn that phrase into a long-term military buildup.
In Germany, Hanefeld said, the changes underway are often described as a “Zeitenwende,” but he acknowledged that the transformation does not come easily given the countrys history.
The effort is unfolding against a backdrop of public friction between President and Merz, a dispute that a U.S. defense expert warned could complicate critical decisions on deterring Russia.
The tension escalated after Merz criticized Washingtons handling of the war, saying the United States was being “humiliated” by Irans leadership in negotiations and questioning the Trump administrations exit strategy. Trump fired back by accusing Merz of being soft on Irans nuclear program, even though Merz has said Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon.
The dispute quickly spilled into NATO politics. Trump later threatened to review possible and said Merz should spend more time ending the war in Ukraine and “fixing his broken country” than commenting on Iran.
Then Merz added another irritant. Speaking to a young audience in Germany, he said he would not advise his children to live, study or work in the United States “today,” citing Americas changing social climate, while also saying he remained “a great admirer of America,” but “My admiration isnt growing at the moment.”
Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former U.S. European Command official, told Fox News Digital that Merz was wrong to speak that way about Trump at a moment when Germany needs Washingtons support.Â
“Talking trash about the president at a meeting with school kids in Germany is not professional diplomacy, and especially a president who is well-known to be prickly as President Trump,” Montgomery said. “Germany is not the big country in this relationship, the United States is, and Merz needed to show more discipline as a national leader.”Â
Montgomery said those tensions risk affecting hard security decisions, including long-range strike capabilities
