Defense Minister Pistorius defended the conditions set by NATO for Ukraine’s membership in daily affairs. Peace and cleared border issues are also part of this – otherwise there is a risk of the alliance falling apart.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius defended NATO’s conditions for Ukraine’s membership and rejected criticism from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Everybody says Ukraine’s future is in NATO once the war is over,” Pistorius said in an interview with the Daily Tops. Ukraine is committed to NATO membership – and Zelenskyy is aware of that too.
Pistorius defends terms
The established conditions are completely normal, Pistorius explained. These include “system interoperability”, meaning that Ukrainian weapons systems can be used in conjunction with those of other NATO countries, issues of governance and democratic control of the armed forces.
“These are all normal standards for all NATO member states,” Pistorius said. All this is “not rocket science”, but it can also happen very quickly. “I understand the resentment and impatience. Especially in the situation Ukraine is in, I have full sympathy for that.”
Worry about the fall of the alliance
Regarding the strategic dilemma that Russia could try to continue to strike Ukraine with drones to prevent it from joining NATO, Pistorius said, “First of all, I don’t see Ukraine not joining NATO.” accession before the border issues are resolved and there is peace would mean that the case for the alliance could be triggered almost immediately by some action.”
Achieving the 2% target from 2028 still open
Pistorius also commented on the question of the Bundeswehr’s future funding. Next year, Germany will reach NATO’s 2% target – but only because of the 100 billion special fund. That will last until 2027 or maybe 2028, Pistorius said. “After that there’s a gap: it needs to be closed if you want to hit the 2% target and everyone has committed to that.” The “how” must be thought about in the coming years.
Pistorius made it clear that, from his point of view, the debt brake should not be untouchable. “Who wants to be able to defend themselves, who wants to reach the two percent, who wants to fulfill the alliance obligation, who wants the eastern flank to have the same protection that we had during the Cold War until 89 – in the end must also compromise as he intends to do that,” he said. Whether this should be done under the debt brake or not is a matter of political priorities.