Germany’s Merz open to France extending nuclear deterrent

Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) Friedrich Merz and co-leader of the Social Democratic party (SPD) Lars Klingbeil after exploratory talks in Berlin, Germany March 8, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Germany’s Friedrich Merz on Sunday (March 5, 2025) reiterated that he was open to France extending its nuclear deterrent in Europe, as the continent seeks to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s upending of the transatlantic alliance.

“We simply must become stronger together in nuclear deterrence in Europe,” Mr. Merz, expected to become Germany’s next chancellor after his conservatives won last month’s elections, said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.

Discussions should also involve Britain – western Europe’s only other nuclear power – Mr. Merz said.

“The changed global security situation now necessitates that we Europeans discuss this matter together,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that he would open a debate on extending France’s nuclear deterrent to other European nations, following a call from Mr. Merz on the subject.

It came after Mr. Merz said last month he wanted a discussion on “nuclear sharing” with Paris and London.

The moves come after President Trump began his second stint in the White House by reversing U.S. policy on Ukraine and risking a historic rupture with Europe.

In Sunday’s interview, Mr. Merz stressed however that any discussions in Europe would take place with a view to “complementing the American nuclear umbrella, which we of course want to maintain”.

He also made it clear that “Germany will not be able, or allowed, to possess nuclear weapons itself”.

Germany cannot acquire its own nuclear weapons without violating an international treaty on non-proliferation (NPT) of which it is a signatory.

With President Trump pivoting away from the United States’s European allies, some in Germany, including politicians from the far-right AfD party, have called for the country to acquire its own nuclear weapons.

The developments spurred Mr. Merz, whose CDU/CSU bloc are in negotiations to form a coalition with the centre-left SPD, to announce last week plans to invest massive sums in defence.