Germany vows continued Pacific presence to ‘protect the international order’

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii—A lower-than-expected defense budget for 2025 won’t affect Germany’s military presence in the Indo-Pacific region “in any way,” and will not stop the country from meeting its pledge to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defense, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Wednesday.

Standing on the deck of the German frigate FGS Baden-Württemberg here, speaking to journalists and members of the German parliament, Pistorius said a stable Indo-Pacific region is important for Germany and for Europe as a whole. 

“The Indo-Pacific as a region, just like many other regions in the world, needs to protect the international order, because Germany, like many other trading nations, is very much dependent on free and secure trade routes,” he said through a translator. “We all benefit from that.”

The Baden-Württemberg was one of two ships Germany sent to participate in the biennial RIMPAC exercise here; the German air force also sent three Eurofighter jets an A400M transport aircraft and a KC-130J, which have already participated in exercises in Alaska and Japan. Once the German ships leave Hawaii, they’ll be involved in monitoring and maintaining sanctions against North Korea. The aircraft will participate in exercises in Australia and India, as they demonstrate German air force air-sea combat and rapid deployment capabilities.

“We are showing that the German air force can deploy worldwide with a small footprint in hours,” said Lt. Col. Matthias Boehnke, spokesperson for the German air force. “And we show the German flag in the Indo-Pacific as one of the most important regions for [a] safe and secure world.” 

Pistorius, who headed to South Korea and the Philippines after Hawaii, noted that North Korea is “undermining sanctions imposed on Russia, and so thereby involving itself in the Ukraine conflict as well. And so the security of Europe, as you can see, is very closely linked to the security here in this region.” 

Germany wasn’t the only European country participating in RIMPAC—France and the Netherlands also sent frigates, Italy sent a cruiser, and Belgium, Denmark, and the United Kingdom sent troops. 

Cmdr. Yvonne van Beusekom, captain of the HNLMS Tromp, said that while the Netherlands is on the opposite side of the globe, the Indo-Pacific is of “vital importance” to her country because of the amount of trade that passes through it. “The Netherlands is a trading country,” she said.

The Tromp was the first ship from the Netherlands to participate in RIMPAC. The visit is part of a round-the-world deployment that has already included a transit through the Taiwan Strait and a “potentially unsafe” interaction in the East China Sea, when a Chinese helicopter came very close to a Dutch chopper. 

The incident with the Dutch underscores what Pistorius said was the purpose of his trip through the region—“basically upholding the value of freedom. It’s not a trip directed against any state, no. Yes, China is becoming and acting more dominantly and creates tensions and worries and fears, and all actors in the regions need to be aware of their responsibility for the stability… together, we need to avoid any kind of escalation.” 

For Germany, he said, that means reducing dependence on China and “very actively” reaching out to partners in the region, but also continuing to engage with China.

“There are many challenges in the region, and challenges in these regions cannot be solved without China,” he said. “We will keep up cooperation with China wherever it’s appropriate.”