Ampel-Ministerin leaps against her CSU predecessor - response from the Union follows promptly

Created: 12/29/2021, 4:06 PM

From: Bedrettin Bölükbasi

Ampel Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) has accused her predecessor Gerd Müller (CSU) of serious failures in financing development aid.

© Michael Kappeler / dpa

The traffic light development minister Svenja Schulze criticized her predecessor Gerd Müller sharply.

During the CSU man's term of office, the ministry was underfunded.

Munich - The traffic light coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP has been ruling Germany for weeks.

Previously, the occupation of some ministries was hotly debated in the course of negotiations, but in the end an agreement and division between the parties of the new federal government came about.

The development ministry went to the SPD.

The new social democratic development minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) now sees her ministry in a difficult financial situation.

Schulze blames her predecessor in office - the CSU politician Gerd Müller.

SPD Minister Schulze shoots against CSU predecessor Müller - "dramatically underfunded"

Schulze accused Müller of serious failures in financing development aid. The development policy is "dramatically underfunded," said Schulze the

. That is a "heavy burden" for Germany's role in the world. "I would not have wanted to hand over my house to my successor like that," she added.

A first cash drop had them "quite worried," said Schulze.

"We have entered into long-term international commitments, for which there is not enough money available," she emphasized, adding that although at first glance Müller had set a record budget, at second glance the situation looks very different.

Müller had made sure that enough funds were available for his term of office - but the medium-term budget planning was anything but sustainable.

"That urgently needs to be corrected," demanded the minister.

"Otherwise there is a risk that Germany will not be able to meet important international obligations in the area of ​​fighting hunger and pandemics or in supporting refugees," she warned clearly.

Union parliamentary group answers SPD Minister Schulze - also Chancellor Scholz in the sights

The development minister's statements were promptly followed by a response from the Union.

"Minister Schulze is trying to blur responsibility for the development budget," claimed the development policy spokesman for the CDU / CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, Volkmar Klein.

Her predecessor Gerd Müller pointed out for a long time that the Ministry of Development lacks the necessary planning security due to a "kinking financial planning".

In addition, the CDU / CSU parliamentary group has repeatedly complained about this, said Klein. In his answer to Schulze, he also attacked Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD): “The finance minister responsible for medium-term financial planning of the federal government, today's Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, has always ignored this problem and instead only provided higher short-term funds for development cooperation . "

The Union accused Olaf Scholz's policy of being “short-term”.

According to Klein, it is not Müller, but Scholz's "problematic" policy that is the cause of the development ministry's problem.

It is "hypocritical" to hold Gerd Müller responsible.

"It is to be feared that Minister Schulze would like to divert attention from the difficulties that the coalition has with continuing to raise 0.7 percent of gross national income for official development cooperation," von Klein continued.

Under Müller, this was achieved for the second time in 2020 and will "in all probability" also be achieved in 2021.