REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File... Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreBERLIN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Germany will strengthen its military to make it the backbone of deterrence and collective defence in Europe, its defence minister pledged on Thursday as Berlin issued new defence policy guidelines for the first time in over a decade. The 19-page document details what the "Zeitenwende" - the major shift of policy German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 - means for the workings of the Bundeswehr. "With the Zeitenwende, Germany becomes a grown up country in terms of security policy," Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said as he presented the guidelines, the first since 2011 when Berlin suspended conscription. "As the most populous and an economically strong country at the heart of Europe, Germany must be the backbone of deterrence and collective defence in Europe," Pistorius said. German forces needed to be refocused on their core mission -the credible defence of Germany and its allies - and be "ready to fight a war", he said.

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Persons: Olaf Scholz, Wolfgang Rattay, Boris Pistorius, Pistorius, Sabine Siebold, Toby Chopra, Ed Osmond Organizations: Patriot, Bonn Air Force, Territorial Command, Bundeswehr, REUTERS, Berlin, Thomson Locations: Cologne, Wahn, Germany, BERLIN, Europe, Ukraine, Berlin, prioritise, Lithuania