And with those words, the majority of German politicians finally faced the truth. They saw what experts have been saying for years: the German armed forces are barely capable of national and alliance defense and thus cannot fulfill their constitutional mandate. In view of Russia's war of aggression, it has once again become clear that Germany must assume the main burden of conventional defense in Central Eastern and Northern Europe and once again act as the backbone of the (non-nuclear) NATO deterrent. German policymakers are now faced with the task of restoring the lost capability of its armed forces to provide comprehensive national and alliance defense as quickly as possible.

In this context, the German army is of particular importance. Considering the strategic orientation of Germany's allies and the reduction of land forces (especially armored combat units) in other EU and NATO states, no country apart from Germany can and will provide the necessary army forces to secure NATO's eastern flank so that the alliance could hold its own in a potential conflict with Russia.

This is essential, however, because this is what ultimately achieves the deterrent effect in peacetime, meaning that there would be no escalation into a war. This concern must be placed at the center of German defense policy in order to turn the Bundeswehr once again into the backbone of Europe's defense. With the return of a territorial war in Europe, the point has been reached where the security situation has changed so drastically that all options must be examined without taboo.