BERLIN — Germany introduced its first comprehensive national security strategy on Wednesday, in an effort to address Germany’s priorities and ambitions in a Europe transformed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The announcement is a key part of the coalition agreement of the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, but it also comes as the war in Ukraine has heightened Germany’s sense that it has become vulnerable to new military, economic and geopolitical threats, including climate change.
China has been such a contentious issue that it will be dealt with in a separate paper scheduled to come out later.
In general, the strategy focuses on three pillars of German security. First, an active defense, including a new strategic culture and commitments to high military spending. This includes reaching the goal set by NATO that its members spend 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense, and a focus on deterrence, not disarmament.
The second pillar is resilience, centering on the ability of Germany and its allies to protect their values, reduce economic dependencies on rivals, deter and defeat cyberattacks and defend the United Nations Charter and the rule of law. The third is sustainability, a pillar that includes issues like climate change and the energy and food crises.
Mr. Scholz and top ministers presented the new strategy in a news conference on Wednesday. The plan had been long delayed because of coalition infighting, which led to an agreement to drop the idea of forming a German national security council altogether.
