CDU/CSU on foreign affairs and defence

The CDU and the CSU want to support Ukraine diplomatically, financially, with humanitarian aid and with weapons. In the program's view, Ukraine is also defending Germany, because its defeat would risk another attack in Europe. Sanctions against Russia are to be expanded.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep helping Ukraine. This includes money, aid for people and weapons. Sanctions against Russia should get stricter. Ukraine should be able to join the EU later.

Together with Poland, France and the United Kingdom, and in coordination with the US, the parties want to develop a joint strategy in a contact group. This also covers credible security guarantees and the role of NATO. The goal is a peace process that Ukraine can conduct from a strong position. The sanctions are meant to burden Russia economically until it ends the fighting. The parties see Ukraine's EU accession as being in Germany's and Europe's interest but require all criteria to be fully met.

The CDU and the CSU want to develop the Federal Security Council into a National Security Council in the Chancellery. It is to coordinate key questions of foreign and security policy and serve as the decision-making body in crises. The National Security Strategy is also to be fundamentally reviewed in the first year in government.

The CDU and the CSU want a National Security Council. It should work in the Chancellery. It should coordinate security and foreign policy. The security strategy should also be reviewed.

Besides foreign and defense policy, the council is to coordinate trade, Europe and development and to work on strategy and foresight. The revised security strategy is to describe the threat situation concretely, define German interests and draw practical conclusions. The Chancellery is also to coordinate Germany's position in the EU more strongly. The parties want to end German abstentions in the EU Council on central issues.

The CDU and the CSU want to deepen the partnership with the United States and start a high-level strategic dialogue for that purpose. They want to coordinate closely with France and Poland in the Weimar Triangle. The program calls the US the most important ally outside Europe.

The CDU and the CSU want to work more closely with the US. There should be new high-level talks. The parties also want to work more closely with France and Poland.

The parties point to shared values, interests and NATO's mutual defense pledge. The Weimar Triangle is the consultation format of Germany, France and Poland. It is to be used for foreign, security and European policy. The parties also want to cooperate more with both neighbors on energy, transport and against illegal migration.

The CDU and the CSU want to support Israel militarily as well and lift existing obstacles to arms exports. At the same time they back a two-state solution in the Middle East. They want to increase pressure on Iran, which they see as a major danger to Israel and world peace.

The CDU and the CSU want to help Israel, also with weapons. They want peace between Israelis and Palestinians with two states. The parties want to be tougher on Iran.

The program calls Israel's security part of Germany's reason of state and backs its right to self-defense. The parties want to expand the Abraham Accords, which bring Israel and Arab states closer. They regard the nuclear deal with Tehran as having failed. They want to close sanctions loopholes, support human rights defenders and especially women in Iran, and end the Iranian regime's influence in Germany.

The CDU and the CSU want to push back China's influence together with partners wherever German strategic interests are affected. They favor an independent European China policy closely coordinated with the US. Germany is to have a stronger economic and diplomatic presence in the Indo-Pacific.

The CDU and the CSU want to limit China's influence. Europe should have its own China policy. Germany should work more closely with countries like Japan and India.

According to the program, China is increasingly positioning itself against liberal democracies and creating dependencies worldwide. The parties want to deepen relations with countries such as Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The stronger presence in the region is to be coordinated with these partners.

The CDU and the CSU want to attach conditions to development policy, including the rule of law, stopping illegal migration and fighting terrorism. Humanitarian aid and development cooperation are to be merged again. For Africa and the Sahel, the parties plan a closer partnership and a new strategy.

The CDU and the CSU want to attach conditions to development aid. Countries should, for example, stop illegal migration. Emergency aid and development aid should belong together again. There should be a new strategy for Africa.

Development policy is also meant to push back the influence of Russia and China and to promote private investment. The program justifies the merger with humanitarian aid by pointing to overlaps and efficiency. The parties want to stand up for self-determination and family planning for women and girls and for persecuted Christians. African states are to be enabled to provide for their own security. The parties consider the previous Sahel policy a failure; a new European strategy is to support people locally so they do not set out for Europe.

The CDU and the CSU want to fully equip the Bundeswehr, build up material reserves and reorganize its structures. The reserve force is to be restructured and a drone army built. The aim is for the Bundeswehr to make a central contribution to NATO's deterrence.

The CDU and the CSU want to make the Bundeswehr stronger. The troops should get all the equipment they need. There should be a drone army. The reserve should also get better. The reserve is former soldiers who help in an emergency.

Military and civilian structures are to be geared to the core mission, and barracks, training grounds, airfields, bases and depots are to be modernized. Homeland defense is to grow so that Germany meets its NATO obligations. The reserve is to be trained and equipped as much like active units as possible so it can relieve them. The Bundeswehr is to lead on space, drones and the European air defense shield and greatly expand its cyber capabilities. The drone army includes production capacity, research and drone defense.

The CDU and the CSU commit to NATO and want to meet its defense funding obligations permanently. They treat two percent of economic output as a minimum. They stand by nuclear sharing and welcome long-range US weapons in Germany.

The CDU and the CSU support NATO. NATO is a defense alliance. Germany should spend at least two percent of its economic output on defense. The parties welcome the US plan to place long-range weapons in Germany.

NATO's two percent target asks members to spend at least two percent of economic output on defense; the platform treats that figure as a floor. The aim is a Bundeswehr that is fully staffed, fully equipped and ready for deployment. The parties call nuclear sharing indispensable for deterrence within the alliance. They see the announced stationing of long-range US weapon systems as a response to Russia's arms buildup. The Bundeswehr is also to be integrated with other European forces into a defense union inside NATO, with the United Kingdom closely involved.

The CDU and the CSU want to introduce a gradually expanding military draft and, in the long run, a mandatory year of community service. The Bundeswehr is to grow from 180,000 to 203,000 soldiers. The platform cites the personnel needed for deterrence and NATO targets.

The CDU and the CSU want a military draft again. It should grow step by step. Later there should be a required year of service for society. The army should have 203,000 soldiers instead of 180,000. The parties also want the army to be more visible in public.

From those examined for fitness, the Bundeswehr would call up as many fit recruits as its force planning requires, choosing those who have signaled willingness to serve. As before 2011, service could also be done in emergency and rescue organizations. Until a year of service exists, voluntary service programs are to be strengthened. The parties say such a year would also bring people from different backgrounds together. They further want the Bundeswehr more present in public life, for example through more public oath ceremonies and Veterans Day, and they want to keep youth officers visiting schools.

The CDU and the CSU want to build a European single market for defense goods with common export rules. Defense companies are to get easier access to financing, and Bundeswehr procurement is to become faster. The platform sees a homegrown defense industry as strategically important for European sovereignty.

The CDU and the CSU want one shared European market for defense goods. The same export rules should apply everywhere. Defense companies should get money more easily. The army should be able to buy equipment faster.

Defense companies across Europe are to cooperate more closely across borders. The parties want to remove the industry's disadvantages in financing and sustainability ratings, including under ESG criteria. Existing EU tools such as PESCO, CARD and the European Defence Fund are to be used more effectively. Procurement is to be reorganized: individual multi-year major projects would move from the procurement office into a new, leaner agency. The platform also calls for more planning certainty in budget funds.