Russia threatens peace and freedom in Germany, warns foreign minister

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has warned against underestimating the threat Russia poses to Germany.

"Russia directly threatens our peaceful and free life in Germany," Wadephul told the Funke media group in comments published on Sunday.

He described Russia's war against Ukraine as the greatest threat to security in Europe and the most important issue in German foreign policy.

Wadephul welcomed NATO's recent decisions at a summit in The Hague, where member states agreed to raise defence spending to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP), calling the move "right and necessary."

A senior member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the foreign minister criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for "attacking the morale of the Ukrainian people with indiscriminate bombing," adding that "Ukraine's freedom is the most important test of our resolve as Europeans."

Meanwhile, a debate is unfolding within the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the junior partner in the coalition government, over how to approach Russia.

A manifesto signed by prominent SPD figures — including former parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich, ex-party chief Norbert Walter-Borjans, foreign policy expert Ralf Stegner and several lawmakers — called for direct diplomatic talks with Moscow and criticized the government's rearmament plans.

However, at the SPD party conference this weekend, party leader Lars Klingbeil reiterated the need to do everything to protect against Putin's Russia, rejecting any change in policy towards Moscow.