BERLIN — A leading politician in Germany’s governing Christian Democratic Union said the country should take part in a European nuclear umbrella or face becoming a “pawn” on the world stage.

“We should have a debate about an independent European nuclear umbrella, and that will only work with German leadership,” Jens Spahn, the conservatives’ parliamentary group leader told German newspaper Welt. “If you can’t provide a nuclear deterrent, you become a pawn in world politics.”

Spahn’s comments show that, despite conservative German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s recent professions of faith in the durability of NATO and the U.S.’s role in the alliance, his conservatives are considering contingency plans to protect Germany and Europe.

“Europe must become a deterrent,” said Spahn in the interview with Welt, which is owned by POLITICO parent company Axel Springer. “American nuclear bombs are also stationed in Germany for this purpose. But that is not enough in the long term. We need to talk about German or European participation in the nuclear arsenal of France and the U.K., possibly also about our own participation with other European states. That will cost a lot of money. But if you want protection, you have to finance it.”

Merz raised the issue of a homegrown nuclear deterrent in February while he was still a candidate for chancellor. “We need to have discussions with both the British and the French — the two European nuclear powers — about whether nuclear sharing, or at least nuclear security … could also apply to us,” Merz said at the time.

In the interview, Spahn floated the idea “of rotating responsibility” for nuclear deterrence “between member states on a random basis.”

Experts sharply criticized Spahn for his remarks, especially as Germany has no nuclear weapons of its own — and is far from acquiring them given the politically unpopularity of such a move. That hardly puts Germany in a position to lead on the issue of a European deterrent, some argued.

“This proposal ignores reality,” Stefanie Babst, a former NATO deputy assistant secretary-general, said in an interview with German public radio. “France and Britain are certainly not waiting for Germany to finally let their nuclear weapons be circled around a bit.”