Germany must become ‘leading power’ on world stage after ‘80 years of restraint’, says Scholz ally

Berlin is pouring billions of euros into rearmament in response to Ukraine war

Lars Klingbeil is the co-leader of German Social Democratic party (SPD) (AFP via Getty Images)

Germany must cast aside “80 years of restraint” to become a true “leading power” on the global stage, the co-leader of the Social Democratic (SPD) party has said.

Lars Klingbeil, who is a close ally of the German president Olaf Scholz, said on Tuesday that Berlin must “normalise” its relationship with its military forces to achieve this aim.

The German army, the Bundeswehr, should be viewed as a “legitimate political tool”, he added.