Speech by Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul at the change-of-command ceremony for 41 Armoured Infantry Brigade and marking the redeployment of the 1...

For some places, merely mentioning their name will bring an image to mind.

Although maybe we've never been there.

Bucha is such a place.

Four years ago, it was probably known to only a very few.

A small town of formerly 34,000 inhabitants, some 30 kilometres to the northwest of Kyiv, on the outskirts of a metropolitan area.

Around the world today, it is synonymous with the terror that Russia has been inflicting on people in Ukraine.

I visited it a few weeks ago, together with some of my EU counterparts, in order to mark the fourth anniversary of the liberation of Bucha.

I went not only for an act of remembrance.

Not only to bring back into our nations' collective memory the unspeakable horror that Russian soldiers perpetrated there.

But also to announce there that we will participate in a special tribunal that will investigate and criminally prosecute the crimes committed by Russia.

Because we are convinced that the perpetrators will one day have to face justice for the crimes they committed against people in Ukraine.

This must be our shared aspiration.

Because Russia turned Bucha into hell on earth for its inhabitants.

Yet it is also a place that stands for the Ukrainian army's power to resist.

Four years ago, it liberated Bucha and brought to light the unspeakable crimes of the Russian army.

Since then, I also view Bucha as an admonition to us all.

Because we now see the threat people face if they should come under Russian occupation.

That is why you were stationed in Lithuania for half a year, as soldiers of the 18th rotation of the NATO Multinational Battlegroup Lithuania's German contingent.

You conducted exercises there side by side with comrades from the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium and Czechia.

You exemplify the resolve with which we are prepared to defend our Allies and friends in the Baltic.

A Belgian comrade's death during a training exercise cast a shadow on your rotation.

General Hammerstein just described the trying circumstances under which you completed your mission nonetheless.

You did so also because you know this mission was not of our choosing.

Rather, we must perform it because it is what the situation requires.

The opponent must be deterred, to make sure he will refrain from an open attack on NATO.

I am aware I am limiting my statement to an "open attack".

Because Russia time and again attempts to test NATO along its eastern flank by conducting actions below the threshold of an armed attack.

Be it through drones and aircraft incursions into Baltic airspace,

through provocations by the Russian navy in the Baltic,

or through disinformation campaigns that are designed to undermine trust:

All this forms a cohesive Russian strategy that aims to weaken our willpower.

Putin is testing our resolve to deter him.

But when I look into your faces, I know there is no doubting our resolve as long as there are units like 41 Armoured Infantry Brigade -

the unit to which I myself am assigned as a reserve officer.

And as long as we have soldiers like Brigadier-General Hammerstein.

General, I suspect every commander is told upon reaching the end of a tour that they took over their unit "during a decisive phase".

In your case, a look at recent historical developments proves this is not a cliché.

Because your mission, and that of your successor, is to uncompromisingly ramp up the operational readiness of your units, of your men and women in uniform.

And this must be done while Russia is waging its gruesome war against Ukraine on the borders of Europe, thereby calling into question everything we held to be the tactical truth.

This was the dominant theme during your time as commander.

By training Ukrainian soldiers, you and your fellow men and women in uniform had a much closer experience of the war than many others in our country.

Because you learned firsthand about their experiences and insights, and the burdens that they bear.

Training Ukrainian comrades is not a task you sort of do on the side.

Because you know the soldiers that you train and get to know here will have to employ what they learn right away on the battlefield.

You also know that many might not survive this war and that, if they do, they may well be bodily and mentally scarred.

This has given rise to a new air of seriousness in the Bundeswehr, a new type of determination, especially in units such as yours.

I'll take the liberty to emphasise that the so-called "mindset" that is so often invoked in Berlin already exists - although it is not enough for it to be the prevailing attitude only in the armed forces.

Because we see how far our military still has to be built up for it to be the strongest conventional army in Europe.

This is the aim everyone in the Bundeswehr should pursue, from troops in active military service all the way up to Generals. You have a great responsibility to bear.

As a commander, you must set an example and lead the way.

Because we live in a world marked by crises that place tremendous demands on our country, including on our armed forces.

For ten years now, for example, German soldiers have been deployed to Lithuania on a rotational basis.

Although we have already had a military presence there for the past ten years, it is not routine; it is not an everyday task.

Because the geopolitical environment has fundamentally changed over the past 10 years.

Back in 2016, Russia was not yet viewed by all of us as the threat it already was at the time.

Including by people in Germany. That was a delusion.

Some refuse to admit this, even today.

But the reality is different.

The decision to enhance NATO's presence in the Baltic republics and in Poland was a direct consequence of Russia's forcible occupation of Crimea in 2014.

Our decision was not a provocation, but rather a reaction to the threat posed by Russia - of which there were first signs already then and that came into full view in February 2022.

So we can be thankful for the far-sightedness of the decision taken at that time.

And, for our Allies, this far-sightedness is now paying off.

However, it would be an empty promise without the strong engagement of units like 41 Armoured Infantry Brigade and its commander. And of soldiers like yourselves!

The lesson that has been drawn from Ukraine and cities like Bucha is visible in your operational readiness.

This is also our and my responsibility as a politician, a Federal Minister, a Member of the German Bundestag and a reserve officer.

As Foreign Minister, I look to the Baltic and to NATO's north-eastern flank.

And I see your great commitment to the mission in a sphere we have a responsibility to defend that is under threat due to Russia's revisionism.

Of course, I also look out into the world.

And I see a world in which the foundation of trust in an international order is eroding.

A world in which our country is being called on to respond, as ever greater demands are being placed on it.

A world that needs our, and your, commitment.

For you, this can also quite literally mean deployment.

In view of the situation along the north-eastern flank, we may no longer be as keenly aware of the fact -

but today, the Federal Armed Forces are still involved in 17 military operations abroad and missions that are equivalent to such operations.

As a Member of the German Bundestag, it was important to me to constructively support these operations.

As a member of parliament, I was one of those who voted for them.

Because I am convinced that these operations are beneficial and will pay off in the end.

Just like commitment to your mission in Lithuania has done, and will continue to pay off.

We remain firmly anchored in the North Atlantic Alliance.

A NATO in which burdens are being redistributed.

In which we are assuming responsibility for our own security, and in which Germany is leading the way for Europe.

And that is to a large extent also the task you are performing.

Fellow service members, I stand before you today not only as a Federal Minister, but also as a reserve officer in Reconnaissance Battalion 6 "Holstein", and I want to extend my greetings to all comrades here from Eutin.

Three years ago, I was also in Lithuania, as part of a NATO military exercise.

I learned about the country from the point of view of a soldier, getting to know its people and its very real fear of a Russian attack on their freedom.

Standing alongside our comrades, I could see the border with Russia.

And I felt how I could rely on the men and women standing by my side.

Their resolve, their strength and their profound determination to defend our Alliance.

I took this experience with me as I became Foreign Minister, and these experiences have shaped how I think and act.

General Hammerstein, I thank you for your service as commander of this brigade, of these men and women.

The "will to fight, if need be at the expense of one's own life", as you said, lies at the core of every soldier and is evidenced by his or her actions.

Go on to shape this will in your next posting, as Commander of Army Officer School.

Continue to lead by example.

In particular, make use of the experiences you have gained from your interactions with the Ukrainian soldiers and use these to ensure our officers in training learn from real-life military scenarios.

Colonel Krämer, I wish you the best of luck for your upcoming tour.

You are assuming command of a brigade that is undergoing transformation.

Shape this transformation in a decisive and demanding way, in keeping with the requirements of national and collective defence.

And, soldiers: it was a great honour for me to speak to you today.

You can rest assured that,

although I stand before you here as a Federal Minister, in my mind I will always be standing by your side as an officer of the reserves!