Merz: “We want to be able to defend ourselves so we won’t have to defend ourselves.”

On 28 June 2025, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited the Bundeswehr Joint Force Command (BwJFC) in Schwielowsee in his inaugural visit to the Bundeswehr in Germany. He emphasised the necessity of increasing defence spending as well as the importance of effective leadership structures in the Bundeswehr.

Friedrich Merz had already attended the official activation ceremony for 45 Armoured Brigade in Lithuania's capital Vilnius on 22 May 2025 together with Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius. 45 Armoured Brigade is to ensure deterrence at NATO's eastern flank and is permanently stationed in Lithuania. Friedrich Merz has now paid his first visit to the troops in Germany in his role as Federal Chancellor.

Chief of Defence General Carsten Breuer and Lieutenant General Alexander Sollfrank greeted the Federal Chancellor in front of the lined-up guard of honour of the Federal Ministry of Defence Guard Battalion. General Sollfrank is the first commander of the BwJFC, which was commissioned in April 2025. The BwJFC is responsible for the national and joint planning, conduct and evaluation of Bundeswehr operations. It is the central point of contact for civilian authorities and friendly armed forces as well as for multinational partners and actors.

Insights into broad task spectrum

General Sollfrank provided Chancellor Merz with insights into the wide range of tasks of the BwJFC. A particular focus was on the challenges arising from the tense security situation in Europe and the broader Middle East – from hybrid threats against critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea to the situation of the Bundeswehr contingents in Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. Topics discussed furthermore included the Operational Plan for Germany – the military component of Germany’s overall defence – and Germany's role as a hub for NATO in the event of an Alliance contingency.

In his speech, Federal Chancellor Merz said: “At the NATO summit in The Hague, we made the landmark decision to invest 5 % of gross domestic product into defending our country – 3.5 % are attributed exclusively to defence and 1.5 % to infrastructure.” How important this decision is becomes evident considering the still ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine: “We must not to take our security for granted. We have to do more in order to live in freedom, peace and security.”

However, strong armed forces need more than funds and weapon systems, they need effective leadership structures, according to Chancellor Merz, who stressed that the BwJFC plays a key role in this regard: “The operational heart of the Bundeswehr, our troops, beats here. The Bundeswehr Joint Force Command is the hub for all matters pertaining to national and collective defence as well as to international crisis management.” Hence, the BwJFC represents the ideal of a modern Bundeswehr facing a new reality in security policy and effectively defending Germany and its allies, according to the Federal Chancellor.

Thanking the troops, commemorating the deceased

The Federal Chancellor concluded his speech by thanking all Bundeswehr military personnel for their service, for their loyalty to Germany and for their dedication to safeguarding freedom and democracy. As a final act of his visit, Chancellor Merz commemorated all service personnel and civilian members of the Bundeswehr who lost their lives in deployments abroad, laying down a white rose in the Forest of Remembrance.