CDU boss: Merz warns of conflicts with a risk of nuclear escalation
CDU boss
Merz warns of conflicts with a risk of nuclear escalation
From the point of view of the CDU leader Friedrich Merz, the mere existence of nuclear weapons changes every war. photo
© Axel Heimken/dpa
The Ukraine war could turn out to be the “minor problem,” says Merz. He expects further military conflicts. It is problematic if these are carried out with nuclear powers like China.
Shortly before the anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine, CDU leader Friedrich Merz warned of further conflicts with the potential for nuclear escalation. “The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, as terrible as it rightly seems to us today, could still turn out to be the ‘minor’ problem,” wrote Merz in a guest article for the “Handelsblatt” (Thursday).
“We may have several more military conflicts ahead of us, each with the risk of a nuclear escalation at least one major nuclear power, the People’s Republic of China, and at least two future nuclear powers such as North Korea and Iran are on the same path as Russia – that of “military threats and the use of force against neighboring regions or against the entire previous political one Order.”
Nuclear weapons would not have to be used at all. “Their mere existence changes every war. In Europe and the USA, the fear of the use of Russian nuclear weapons prevents even more effective protection of the Ukraine by the EU and NATO.”
EU and NATO should muster the will to assert themselves
For the West, it follows that disarmament must be discussed again. “The last major disarmament treaty was signed in Washington on December 7, 1987 between then Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.”
However, the agreement was preceded by a show of strength. “The EU and Nato bring it up again today.” The Russian attack should not encourage other authoritarian regimes to try the same thing in their region.
