Germany 'Must Be Prepared for War' in Europe, Defense Minister Says | 30 Oct 2023 | The German government began a massive rearmament campaign in 2022, creating a €100 billion fund for military modernization after the Ukraine crisis exploded into a full-blown NATO proxy war against Russia. German defense spending is at its highest levels since World War II, but that apparently hasn't improved the nation's defense capabilities. Germany must prepare itself for a European war, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has announced. "We have to get used to the idea that there may be a threat of war in Europe," the minister said in an interview with German media. "Germany must be able to defend itself. We must be prepared for war," he said. Warning that the ongoing Ukraine crisis and the latest explosion of violence in the Palestinian-Israeli crisis will have consequences for German society, Pistorius said that Germany must act defensively, and that this applies to both the Bundeswehr and society at large.