The National Security Strategy is a quantum leap for us in Germany. It reflects a new understanding in our country, a new way of thinking about security. Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine has made it painfully clear that our security is vulnerable. We must do much more to uphold it than we have previously done. This recognition shaped our work on the National Security Strategy and continues to define our understanding of security. The Strategy has given us a navigation system to guide us at home and in the world and has made us more capable of action.

Security policy in a new era

For our partners in Europe and the world, the National Security Strategy explains “Zeitenwende Germany” – Germany’s new approach for this new, watershed era. It describes a Germany that has launched a special fund to strengthen the Bundeswehr as a solid pillar of NATO, so that we can protect ourselves against war and violence. A Germany that knows its role at a time of global power shifts and systemic rivalry, and responds firmly to threats to our democracy and the free basic order of our state. A Germany that has also understood that security is more than the military and diplomacy.

The policy of Integrated Security laid out in the National Security Strategy also means, for example, raw materials security, supply chain security, cybersecurity, security against disinformation, and the security of critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, by recognising the climate crisis as the greatest security threat of this century, the National Security Strategy helps us to stay focused on priorities that go beyond the day‑to‑day business of acute crisis management. All of these issues affect our security – and we will only be able to respond to them together with our allies.

A change in mindset across the whole of society

The value that the National Security Strategy brings us within Germany consists in a twofold affirmation of our new reality. Firstly, a change in mindset across the whole of society when it comes to our security situation. Secondly, an agreement to take joint, integrated action in light of this. Integrated Security also means that each and every individual can help to improve the security of our country. Thanks to this new understanding, we have invested in all dimensions of our security over the last year. In our robustness, meaning protection against war and violence; in our resilience, meaning our society’s ability to withstand attacks on our freedom and our democracy; and in sustainability, meaning the protection of our vital natural resources.

The National Security Strategy sets out conclusions, values, goals and interests in black and white to provide a starting point for us to find solutions together.