(VOVWORLD) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that Europe needs closer military collaboration, and that he also favors the deterrent of French nuclear weapons as suggested by President Emmanuel Macron to bolster the region’s defense capabilities.
 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz poses for photographs during the recording of his New Year's speech at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany on December 29, 2023. (Photo: AP/Toronto Star) |
"In addition to nuclear deterrents, we are looking at strong conventional forces, air and missile defence, as well as cyber, space and deep-precision strike capabilities," Scholz wrote in a guest article published in The Economist on Thursday.
Europeans can and will have to contribute more to the transatlantic burden-sharing (within NATO), he added.
Scholz said he welcomes the fact that the French president emphasised the European dimension of the French force de frappe, but stressed the European Union would not have its own nuclear weapons.