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Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin
Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP
The US Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin will be the first member of the new US administration to come to Berlin next Tuesday.
As DER SPIEGEL learned from government circles, talks with Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) are planned for Tuesday.
The main focus here is on the future of NATO's "Resolute Support" mission in Afghanistan, in which the Bundeswehr is also participating.
The visit of the former general comes at a time when the federal government is trying on all channels to re-establish closer contacts with the new US administration after the open dispute with Donald Trump.
Kramp-Karrenbauer had also spoken to Austin on the phone.
The US government had postponed a visit by the minister to Washington, which was actually planned for mid-April, because of the corona crisis.
From a German point of view, the most pressing question in the talks is how the US is planning the future of the military mission in Afghanistan.
Shortly after taking office, President Joe Biden suspended the complete withdrawal of US troops, which was still planned under Trump, and only wants to see visible successes in the peace talks with the Taliban.
A first agreement actually stipulated that all foreign troops would withdraw by the end of April.
Bundeswehr is preparing for escalation in Afghanistan
Since the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan relies on the protection of the US Air Force in emergencies, the US plans for the next few months are extremely important for the strategists in the defense department.
Since all NATO units fear a new wave of attacks by the Taliban against foreign troops after the end of April, Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer ordered increased protection of the camp in Mazar-e-Sharif weeks ago.
The visit to Berlin takes place as part of a larger trip from Austin.
First of all, the defense minister is expected in Israel over the weekend.
After the stop in Berlin, he will visit the US command in Stuttgart.
The German government sees the visit to the US troops as a symbol that the withdrawal of tens of thousands of US soldiers planned under Donald Trump will not come under Biden and that German-American relations will normalize.
The US remains tough on defense spending
At the same time, Austin will also be relentlessly digging deeper into disputes.
Like the administration under Trump, the new administration is also heavily criticizing the planned completion of the "Nordstream 2" gas pipeline.
Biden's troops are just as tough when it comes to defense spending and the demand that Germany must finally come up with the two percent of gross domestic product that NATO had promised years ago.
When it comes to the tiresome subject of money, however, Kramp-Karrenbauer cannot give the guest from Washington any really good news.
Her budget will increase slightly again in 2022.
For the years thereafter, however, the medium-term financial planning provides for a slow decrease in the Bundeswehr budget.
Germany is thus many billions of euros away from the promised two percent target.
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