As of: March 29, 2024, 12:51 p.m
By: Marcel Reich
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Robert Habeck warns of the consequences of social cuts to finance defense. He sees democracy under pressure and calls for the country to be held together socially.
Munich – Under the pressure of social spending, the traffic light coalition has to save. But where exactly remains a matter of debate within the government. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) has warned against cutting social spending in order to increase defense spending. “I think the idea that we are dismantling the welfare state because we need more money for the military would be disastrous,” he told the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS)
according to the advance report from Friday. “We are not just in a phase of external threat,” emphasized Habeck. Democracy is also under pressure.
Green politician Robert Habeck also reacts to his cabinet colleague Christian Lindner with his statements. © Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/Britta Pedersen/dpa (collage)
Habeck calls on the traffic light coalition to show moderation in the Ukraine dispute
“Many people are turning away, the glue of society is becoming porous,” said Habeck. That's why social spending is necessary to hold the country together. However, individual points could be discussed, such as incentives for longer working hours in old age.
The Green politician is also reacting to his cabinet colleague, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). He recently spoke out in favor of comprehensive social reforms in order to free up money for future tasks such as defense.
Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Habeck also called on the government coalition to moderate the dispute over how to deal with Ukraine. “If we now argue about how we help and whether we deliver the Taurus cruise missile, Putin can sit back.” That would be “the stupidest thing we can do,” he emphasized.
In the traffic light coalition there is a main dispute over possible Taurus deliveries: While Green and FDP politicians are calling for this, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is against it.
National debt at the end of 2023 will be almost 2.5 trillion euros
The mountain of public debt rose by 77.3 billion euros or 3.3 percent last year. The federal government, states, municipalities and social insurance companies were in debt with a total of 2,445.5 billion euros at the end of 2023, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Wednesday in Wiesbaden. However, there is a small special effect here. Since the second quarter of 2023, the debts of local public transport companies have been included in the calculation of public debt. Without public transport, the debt level would have grown by 2.9 percent and would be 9.0 billion euros lower.
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The federal government's debt increased at an above-average rate. It rose by 4.7 percent or 76 billion euros to almost 1,696 billion euros. The main reason was the increase in debt of the “Energy Economic Stabilization Fund” to cushion the consequences of the energy crisis resulting from the Russian war against Ukraine. The special fund set up in July 2022 to upgrade the Bundeswehr had a debt of 5.8 billion euros at the end of 2023; at the end of 2022 it had not yet taken on any debt.
In the case of the federal states, however, the debt level fell by 1.9 billion euros to 595.4 billion euros. Without the inclusion of public transport companies, the decline would have been even greater. In contrast, local government debt increased significantly. It rose by 9.1 percent to 153.6 billion euros compared to the end of 2022. The involvement of transport companies was clearly noticeable here. Without this effect, the municipalities' debt would have only grown by 4.8 percent.
With material from AFP