Germany’s Vote to Strike ISIS in Syria

After the terrorist attacks in Paris in November, President Hollande somewhat surprisingly invoked Article 42.7 of the Lisbon Treaty – the EU’s mutual assistance clause – instead of NATO’s Article 5 to win European support for the military campaign against ISIS in Syria. Germany’s Bundestag answered the call, voting in December to authorize military support. By championing Lisbon’s assistance clause, Germany sent a clear signal to its fellow member states in support of European common defense.