German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius warned that the war between Russia and Ukraine could expand beyond the neighbouring countries.

“We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day – most recently again against our friends in the Baltic states,” Pistorius told the Tagesspiegel newspaper in an article published on Friday.

With regard to the Bundeswehr, the minister emphasized: “We must quickly strengthen our defence capabilities in light of the urgency of the threat situation.”

The minister also pointed out the limits of the Bundeswehr’s support.

“We cannot go ‘all in’, as some are calling for. Otherwise we would be left defenceless ourselves,” said the minister.

“So far, we have provided everything we can,” he added.

“It must be clear to everyone: If Putin wins this war and occupies Ukraine, the danger for the alliance area will of course also increase,” the politician warned.

The defence industry also needs to be made more efficient, according to the minister, who also spoke in favour of reforming the debt brake for security reasons.

“With a debt brake in this form, we will not get through these crises unscathed,” he said.

The money available today is no longer sufficient to ensure the country’s security, deal with the consequences of the pandemic and at the same time invest in education and digitalization, he said.

“So we have to take into account that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day,” added Pistorius, who has been in office for a year this Friday.

However, if it were to happen, he said it would happen between “five to eight years” from now.

With his call for the Bundeswehr to become “war-ready” he also wanted to “shake up our society,” he said.

The minister expects proposals for re-introducing a version of compulsory military service by April. Germany ended mandatory conscription in 2011.

The minister would also be open to opening up the armed forces to soldiers without a German passport.