Weber warns: a Bundeswehr under AfD control would be a catastrophe

Weber's European alarm

Weber harshly criticized the AfD's reference to German military traditions, contained in the party's electoral program, which states that the Bundeswehr must "die besten Traditionen der deutschen Militärgeschichte leben". The EPP president defined this position in clear terms: "Das ist nicht Stauffenberg, das ist purer Nationalismus", contrasting the party's rhetoric with the figure of Claus von Stauffenberg, a protagonist of the resistance to the Nazi regime.

The CSU politician also warned that the AfD, together with Marine Le Pen's party in France, could break up the European Union as a community of peace: "Die AfD könnte - ebenso wie die Partei (Marine) Le Pens in Frankreich - unseren Friedensverbund EU sprengen". Weber evoked a scenario that is already concrete for next year in France, should the right-wing populists win the elections.

Weber imagined the consequences of such an outcome: "Stellen Sie sich vor, eine neue französische Präsidentin als Oberbefehlshaber der Streitkräfte würde dann verkünden: Die Sicherheit Frankreichs beginnt am Rhein. Dann könnten Deutschland, Polen und Finnland gegen Russland nicht auf Frankreichs Hilfe zählen". According to the EPP leader, "diese Gefahr steht konkret vor der Tür".

The Brandmauer and the EPP's alliances

On the German domestic front, Weber reiterated the need for the so-called Brandmauer against the neo-Nazis: "Die Brandmauer ist existenziell notwendig, wenn es um Neonazis geht. Dann muss sie stehen. Aber wir als europäische Christdemokraten definieren selbst, was Brandmauer ist. Das lassen wir uns nicht von Linken und Grünen vorschreiben". He specified that the EPP works with political forces "die sich klar pro Europa, pro Ukraine und pro Rechtsstaat positionieren".

Weber seized the occasion to relaunch the proposal for a European army, invoking the idea originally put forward by former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. "Wir brauchen jetzt einen Binnenmarkt für Verteidigungsgüter, gemeinsame Exportregeln und europäische Kommandostrukturen bei der Verteidigung, also eine europäische Armee", he declared, denouncing the waste caused by fragmentation: "Wir verschwenden derzeit Milliarden an Steuergeldern mit der Ineffizienz, die wir bei der Beschaffung haben und durch die Abschottung der nationalen Verteidigungsmärkte".

The proposal for a European army

The declared goal of a common army would be, in Weber's words, "damit keine Armee in Europa ihre Nachbarn mehr bedrohen kann oder im Krisenfall den Beistand verweigert". The EPP leader criticized the fragmentation of European defense policy and called for an internal market for defense goods, common export rules, and integrated command structures.

Weber's alarm comes against the backdrop of a German political context marked by the fact that the AfD has been leading the polls ahead of the CDU and CSU for months, sometimes by significant margins, and is the second political force in the Bundestag after the Union. The party is led by Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla; the latter recently called Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) a "Kriegsminister" and opposed the new NATO aid packages for Ukraine. The AfD is also repeatedly accused of having ties to Russia and the Kremlin.

The German political context

The AfD is also weighed down by the ongoing debate in Germany over a possible banning procedure or the revocation of parliamentary rights of individual members, such as the party's chairman in Thuringia, Björn Höcke. Weber's statements come as the Bundeswehr is engaged in a broad rearmament process, making the question of political control over the armed forces even more sensitive.

The interview with "Welt am Sonntag" was distributed by the dpa-AFX agency with a Berlin dateline and picked up by numerous German media outlets, fueling the debate over the future of European defense and the role of the far right in German institutions.