NATO general warns Germany to boost defences against hybrid threats

Germany must urgently strengthen its ability to deter both conventional and hybrid attacks, NATO General Ingo Gerhartz said on Tuesday, amid growing concerns about Russian aggression and other low-level threats across Europe.

At the start of a two-day conference in Berlin focused on strengthening Europe’s defences, Gerhartz said, “Our main challenge is deterrence, and deterrence today and against all types of oppression.”

He stressed that to fend off a growing number of hybrid attacks, Germany needs rapid reforms in military procurement, swift implementation of the new military service law, and a society-wide strengthening of defence preparedness.

“To transform pure investments into deterrence, institutions need to change, processes must be adapted, and most important, our whole society must come on board,” he said.

Gerhartz lamented the months-long dispute over whether and how to introduce military service in Germany, which politically has only been resolved in the past week.

Russia also realizes that the German procurement process sometimes takes years and that the industry has problems ramping up armaments production, he said.

“It shows Germany as a whole has not yet reached the strategic maturity that our times demand,” argued Gerhartz, who is in command of the NATO operational headquarters in Brunssum, the Netherlands, called the Allied Joint Force Command.

There also needed to be a discussion on how deterrence could function in future in the so-called “grey zone” of hybrid attacks which may fall below the obligation to defend a fellow NATO ally under NATO’s Article 5. Gerhartz demanded: “We must rethink our approach to deterrence” he said.

Politicians, military officials and defence experts are meeting in the German capital for the conference, which will features more than 140 speakers in keynote speeches and in discussion panels.

Participants aim to explore responses to a range of threats facing NATO and the European Union, including measures to boost arms production and the adoption of new technologies.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson are also attending.

In his remarks, Pistorius called on Germany’s European allies to rapidly expand defence readiness on the continent.

He also referred to the increasing threat posed by Russia. Pistorius signed an agreement with Jonson for increased military cooperation with the NATO country.

Pistorius noted that Moscow is already carrying out hybrid attacks on a broad scale, using cyberattacks, espionage, sabotage and disinformation.

He added that the Baltic Sea, traditionally seen as a link between European nations, is increasingly turning into a zone of tension, serving as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s testing ground for Europe’s capacity to deter and respond.

He cited damaged undersea cables, airspace violations and drone overflights.

Sweden is the partner country at this year’s meeting. On the fringes of the conference, Dutchman Martin Bonn, previously deputy division commander of the 10th Armoured Division, was also promoted to major general.

He will now be deputy to the German field army commander – a first in the in-depth cooperation.