The USA no longer wants to station medium-range weapons in Germany.Image: iStockphoto
May 12, 2026, 4:44 p.mMay 12, 2026, 4:44 p.m
According to EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas, the expected long-term US decision not to station powerful medium-range weapons in Germany is a wake-up call.
“This is a clear sign that we really need to accelerate our own defense production very significantly and actually push forward with joint procurement,” she said at a meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels. The EU must be able to produce the defense capabilities it needs itself.
The Trump administration’s presumably final renunciation of the stationing of long-range weapons in Germany, as planned by the previous government, recently became known in the wake of the announcement of a withdrawal of around 5,000 US soldiers from the country. The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said a little later on ARD: “As I see it at the moment, there is objectively hardly any possibility from the USA to hand over weapon systems of this kind.”
Report on possible production in Germany
An agreement from 2024 actually stipulated that from 2026 onwards the USA would again want to station medium-range weapons with conventional warheads in Germany that could reach as far as Russia. These should include Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers, SM-6 missiles and newly developed hypersonic weapons.
The Merz government’s hope is that Germany can at least buy Tomahawk cruise missiles. According to a report in “Welt”, it is also being examined whether a joint venture could be created between German and US companies in order to be able to produce Tomahawk cruise missiles in Germany in the future.
Defense State Secretary Sebastian Hartmann did not want to comment on possible talks with the USA on Tuesday in Brussels. However, he said there was “a common interest on both sides of the Atlantic” to have more production options.
Hartmann also pointed out that Germany is systematically rebuilding its own capabilities. “It’s about deterring an aggressor, Russia,” he emphasized. “Only deterrence stops an aggressor from attacking us.” (sda/dpa)