GERMANY PERSPECTIVE

Tagesschau poses the question that no one else dares to formulate: is Germany legally obliged to ban the use of Ramstein? The article cites a ruling by the Bundesverfassungsgericht from July 2025, which concerned targeted drone assassinations in Yemen — piloted via the Ramstein satellite relay station. Karlsruhe had then established that the United States must respect German law, including international law, when using bases on German soil. The question now arises for strikes in Iran. Ramstein is not just an airfield: it is a command hub for drones and a logistical node for troop movements. The 15 KC-135s relocated from Spain likely landed partly in Germany and France. Berlin refuses for now to decide: no formal ban like Madrid, but no explicit green light either. Germany is trapped by its Zeitenwende — the post-Ukraine strategic turning point that pushes it toward more defense, not less. Banning Ramstein would be a foundational act of European sovereignty. Doing nothing would confirm that post-1945 Atlanticism remains the unquestionable pillar of German foreign policy. The Tagesschau article is the only one in the corpus to pose the question in constitutional rather than diplomatic terms. In Germany, the debate over American bases touches a deep chord: Ramstein has been there since 1951, a symbol of post-Nazi Atlantic integration. Questioning its use means questioning seventy-five years of foreign policy. Germany has also welcomed KC-135s relocated from Spain — which means Berlin is indirectly facilitating operations that it hesitates to question legally.