The German government on Wednesday approved the creation of a permanent National Security Council aimed at strengthening the country’s medium- and long-term security planning.
The new body, replacing the Federal Security Council and the Security Cabinet, delivers on a key election pledge by Chancellor Friedrich Merz. It reflects growing recognition that Germany had lost its strategic focus on security during the relative calm of the post-Cold War era.
“This is long overdue,” said Stefan Mair, head of the SWP think tank. “Its value lies less in the decisions taken than in ensuring that ministries develop a shared understanding of the security landscape.”
Germany was left unprepared for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with gas reserves only half full, forcing Berlin to rapidly overhaul its energy system to reduce dependence on Moscow. The shock prompted deep reflection among policymakers, with many blaming successive governments for letting the armed forces shrink after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.
The new council, based permanently at Merz’s riverside office, will be tasked both with addressing immediate threats and anticipating longer-term risks. It will be chaired by the chancellor, with the finance minister as his deputy. Permanent members will include the ministers of foreign affairs, interior, justice, economy, defence, development and digitalisation.
Additional representatives from Germany’s federal states, allied nations or the scientific community may be brought in when required.
Germany joins a growing list of countries to establish a centralised security committee modelled on the United States’ National Security Council, with Britain among the first to adopt a similar system in 2010.
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Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over the strategic waterway and insisting it will not reopen until Washington fulfils its commitments under an interim deal.
Millions of people across Spain and Iceland are preparing on Wednesday to witness a rare total solar eclipse, when the moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun, briefly turning daylight into darkness along a narrow path.
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Taiwan staged military defence drills on Wednesday as China concluded joint naval exercises with Indonesia in waters east of the island.
Washington’s counter-narcotics push is expanding as Colombia’s new conservative government backs deeper security cooperation.
Meta said it had removed more than 750,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts suspected of belonging to Australians under 16, as the country’s internet regulator weighs enforcement action over its teen social media ban.
Russia has accused Ukraine of threatening global grain supplies after recent strikes on Black Sea agricultural infrastructure, while Moscow carried out a new overnight attack on Ukraine’s major Danube port of Izmail.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has used Pacific Fleet drills to criticise Japan, NATO and possible Western moves against Russian commercial ships. He made the comments during his first visit to Iturup, a Japan-claimed island at the end of the Kuril chain near the island of Hokkaido.
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