The comments came at a joint press conference with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte after a German cabinet meeting focused on security policy, days before NATO leaders gather in Ankara.
The German defense minister said Berlin needs capabilities it does not yet have — or cannot produce fast enough — as Europe races to rearm, which is why Berlin is “very interested” in producing select U.S. systems or parts of systems in Germany. This includes areas linked to the F-35 program.
“There are systems that we do not yet have, or that we do not have [in sufficient quantity], that we will need over the next 10 to 15 years,” Pistorius said. “At the same time, we know that the production capacities we have are also limited.”
Chancellor Merz framed the move as part of a broader European effort to rebalance the alliance without breaking the transatlantic link.
“We want to make NATO as a whole more European,” Merz said. “As Europeans, we are taking more responsibility in NATO. We are reducing one-sided transatlantic dependencies. And that is the right decision under all circumstances for both sides of the Atlantic.”
Rutte backed that message.