Germany needs to “normalise” its relationship with the military and learn to take a leadership role in Europe after “almost 80 years of restraint”, the co-leader of the governing Social Democratic party (SPD) has said.
In a speech marking a further point in Berlin’s slow pivot from a broadly pacifist foreign policy agenda since Russia’s 24 February invasion of Ukraine, Lars Klingbeil said it was important to recognise military force as a legitimate political measure for a government striving for peace.
