on a major topic, the head of the german elections in about one and a half weeks time. i'll have more news headlines for you in 45 minutes telling me if you can buy the can you see what old car tires have to do with the production? here's a hands on the really indeed the snow on youtube. german soldiers, a training for the worst case, an attack on may 2 territory. it's a threat. the western military line sees as very real,

with russia waging born ukraine. countries that share a border with russia, one germany to take more responsibility for europe's defense is blocking the league. plus donald trump is president again. if he cuts us support for europe security. this can create to real immediate issues. so why is in germany leading europe's defense and who's going to do it instead? the, this is nature's biggest exercise in decades since the end of the cold war. it's called steadfast defender, a chance for all nate to members to showcase their combines military might the

needles 32 member countries abound by a promise of collective security to defend each other in case of an attack. and right now the line sees its biggest stretch ride on its doorstep from russia. this is russian territory cleaning garage right between poland and it's wayne. yeah. and then there's rushes goes allied that a rose danger is moving towards us at full speed. you must not to the rate we must face it. that's why many of these nato drills are taking place in europe's northeast. like here in your way, or here in this waiting. yeah, that's location for the finale of this whole exercise. and germany is leading it the point is to practice a crucial process, moving troops and equipment from germany to the potential front line quickly via

this week. for this, for the with this location at the center of europe, germany as a major hub, phone a tool, and would play a central logistical role if russia attacked and they to member. in recent years, jeremy has significantly boosted its defense spending. it's also europe's biggest provider of military ag ukraine by far sounds like a leader. right. well, a lot of work needs to be done. this is what we think of sancho an expert on german and european defense policy. so at this point, europe remains concerning the dependent on the united states military speaking. let's have a look at what that means. firstly,

europe relies on the u. s. military industry for much of the equipment that needs to by and then there are the us nuclear warhead, stationed in europe, plus around a $100000.00 us troops on the continent. around a 3rd of those troops are stationed in germany. guarantee in europe, security has been in the us interest for a long time and for more than 75 years, the central structure to do so has been through the nature lines. under donald trump, he's been complaining the us is paying too much for your security and he's even threatening not to protect allies. so you don't meet nato's defense spending target . currently, a 2 percent of gdp dealing with that would call into question nato's core principle of collective defense. the u. s. currently has the biggest military of

all nato members. the u. s. also has the most sophisticated equipment and intelligence. there were several military capabilities that nature only has because the united states has it tends if the us withdraw. so it just kind of decides to be less than both in nature. this can create real, real, real, immediate issues. so why is europe and why is germany so dependent on the us for it security guess what? it has a lot to do with history. it may 1945 nazi germany surrendered. soon after world war 2 was over with more than 60000000 debt on the battlefield. and as

victims of german atrocities denazi's guilds, many millions of jews, people with disabilities, cynthia, and roma, homosexuals, and many other persecuted groups. germany was split into 4 zones of occupation controlled by the victorious allied powers. the united states, the united kingdom, france, and the soviet union. and berlin, right, in the middle of the soviets sector, was also scheduled for after the atrocities of world war 2. the allies initially decided germany should never again be trusted with arms or troops. so the german military was disbanded, and the country demilitarized. instead, the allies stationed their own troops in their zones soon

to german. these were established the federal republic of germany, a democracy aligned with west end, the german democratic republic, a communist dictatorship, dependent on the soviet union. but then tensions grew between the us and the soviet union. the border between the 2, germany's became the frontline of the cold war re on them and was now on the agenda both in east and west germany. but it's the west will focus on because we're talking about the role of the us in 1955 with us backing west. germany established its new military force manned for defense . only the idea of we aman germany was controversial at west germany, up to its defense spending young man. we're now required to do military service

west germany also joined natal insurance bonus valve was integrated into the western military alliance and 1961 the gd yard. so east germany started building the berlin wall and soon after tensions reached a peak, a face off between us and soviet tanks on the streets of berlin. in the last forward a few decades and everything changed, the cold war ended. the berlin wall fell and the 2 jeremy were re united. there was a feeling in the west and one there was the tequila leak and braced in germany. that now geo political competition had ended and military competition

and military confrontation was a thing of the past. many german, so no need for a strong military and its neighbors didn't want that either. for germany, military power became a thing that was just not relevant anymore. and in fact, was seen quite negatively with defense spending cuts, the bonus valve fell into quite a dire state. it started making headlines like these a mass breakdown of tags and draining, not with machine guns, but broomsticks. then this happened, the rushes full scale invasion of ukraine. you know,

what else the doors especially these have the full and it was that side board turning point that set in motion. major changes done on the government announced of one of the specialists on a 100000000000 euros to get the bonus value up to scratch. since then, germany has modernized since arsenal. germany has spent billions on military ag ukraine plus germany is setting up the military base and that way need to help strengthen nato's eastern slack. and germany is finally meeting nature's 2 percent defense spending target. that's 3 years after short, it's announced the type of vendor. it's clear that it will take more than

a little spring cleaning to fix the german military's problems. you've been a good call. scott, is it published research or on the german bonus, math, nato, and european defense. she says germany has a lot more to do pertaining to all chrissy on into much modernization plans on a more people to serve. and there is a big question more with regard to future funding and future financing of the german and forces. germany's established parties might agree on boosting defense capabilities. further that's no one really seems to know where to get the money from. plus defense funding is a divisive issue within germany. all that affects the way germany behaves on the european level german use is, is, is still struggling with this role of the yeah, of, of liter um,

or kind of unifying force within, within europe. this whole thing about germany not seeing itself as a leader, that's a big part of its post for identity. and that's visible. now, in germany's approach to ukraine's defense, it's reluctant to lead the way, prefers to act as part of an alliance. the shortest says, warrant against germany getting to involved in the war. you set the limits like refusing to send long range torres missile systems to ukraine. the germany on that side of our shows has a very cautious reactive stance towards a towards the origin or an easy creed. and so it's blocking the league and needs to be pushed in to be more ambitious and be to take more decisions. so from poland perspective, at least germany can be expected to take the lead so

well or other major players like friends and the u. k. don't look set for that role either. they're your only nuclear powers. have strong military's or big spenders on defense. and key supporters of ukraine but france has been mired political crisis for months and with a u. k. now out of the u, it doesn't have a strong claim to leadership in europe. instead, it's other countries taking the most action right now. these are the countries that have seen the most dramatic increase in defense spending over the last 10 years, poland, estonia, lot fia, lithuania, and finish. what do they all have in common? right, they all share a border with russia. we are the countries.

now that's the case with russian crosses actions, hybrid ones, which are going to pressure on our folder. and it shows poland has planning to spend 5 percent of gdp on defense this year. more than even the u. s. the baltic and northern states to have invested mass of the into the military. but the, it doesn't matter whether the baltic states increase the sense bending and they keep abilities by 200 percent or 3000 if you want this sheer size of their countries and their economies doesn't match well, find some jeremy for example. and so you need the big countries, you need to promise you need germany, you need the united kingdom. germany has pledged to ramp up its military capabilities. but as we've seen, there are manufacturers holding it back, such as the country's history,

its reliance on the u. s. and the question of financing all that makes it unlikely that germany will be leading europe's defense any time soon. the. okay. spelling briefing time. and today we're going to get you briefed on the green party here in germany. death fighting to stay in government off of this month. selections. first of all, we're going to be digging into that belief and that pretty extraordinary journey from peace movement hippies of the 1980s to defends hawks today. then we'll talk about the candidate for chancellor robert hall back a man who's adored by some and a proper hate sake of others. and finally, we'll look ahead with some predictions of whether the greens will make it back into power. i'm here with julia, so deli and ben, nice and both of them have followed the greens closely over the years. so it's great to have you both here. so let's go.