Next German Leader Echoes Merkel's Calls for a 'European Army'

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel's most likely replacement has echoed calls for a "European army," saying she won't let Germany become a "plaything" of the United States if she takes over as leader.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer says she plans to continue the globalist push, started by her mentor Angela Merkel and French ally Emmanuel Macron, to avoid becoming a “plaything” of Russia, China, and the United States on the global stage.

Kramp-Karrenbauer (also referred to as AKK) will be Dr. Merkel’s successor as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.

She made the comments on Tuesday during a speech in the EU capital Brussels where she highlighted her party’s campaign themes ahead of the upcoming European Parliament elections in May.

Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer said Brussels must push forward with a common defense policy, which “must someday also include a European army” which she referred to as “Europe of security.”

“An EU army fighting alongside national forces would be the logical step if we do not want to become a plaything between China and America or Russia and America,” she said according to Süddeutsche Zeitung.

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According to Breitbart, the role of party leader in the CDU and the position of chancellor in a CDU majority government are meant to go hand in hand in Germany, and the Christian-centre-right grouping has provided chancellors for a total of 50 years in the last seven decades.

Given that the CDU is widely tipped to win again in federal elections in 2021, it is likely AKK will occupy the seat, with the protégé showing signs of following in the current chancellor’s footsteps in terms of policy, including sharing the keen support Dr. Merkel has expressed for a “real, true European army.”

In mentioning world powers China, Russia, and the United States, AKK also evoked French President Emmanuel Macron, who became, with comments made by the progressive leader in November, the first European leader to pronounce support for an EU army, specifically “to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America.”

France and Germany, dubbed the “Franco-German couple” by Macron which seeks to stop the world “falling into chaos” by saving it from populism, have already taken first steps in their new project signing a declaration last month pledging to integrate defence and announcing a next-generation fighter jet project this week.

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Brussels bureaucrats were “delighted” at the end of last year that France and Germany were taking the lead on arming the European Union — an endeavor the bloc hopes to accomplish by 2025. But NATO allies had expressed concern that the EU will prioritize the European project’s military plans over contributing to defense for the North Atlantic union — with only six of the 29 NATO members paying the minimum two percent of GDP for shared defense.

President Donald Trump has criticized countries like Germany which have benefitted from the protection of NATO but have contributed little to it.

That looks likely not to change in the case of Germany, with the country not expected to meet its own, much reduced, spending target that it set itself of 1.5 percent, spending just 1.24 percent last year.

The U.S. president put NATO spending at the forefront of his international defense strategy, and he will return to the UK in December for the 70th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, where President Trump is certain to reiterate calls for allies to pay their fair share.