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German Bundestag
Photo: IMAGO/Christian Spicker
The traffic light coalition is postponing the vote planned for this week on the 100 billion program for the Bundeswehr.
Due to ongoing negotiations between the coalition and the Union, the Bundestag will no longer deal with the planned special fund for the Bundeswehr this week.
This is "off the table," said SPD leader Lars Klingbeil on Monday.
The talks with the Union were still ongoing.
They are "very constructive".
However, he could not give a date for an end.
He hopes "that there will be a result soon".
From the Union it is said that the reason for the postponement is that the traffic light "is at odds with each other," said the Union housekeeper Mathias Middelberg.
"This applies to the wording in the Basic Law, but also to the determination of the NATO goal of investing two percent of economic output in defense."
SPD, FDP and Greens want to invest 100 billion euros in defense in the coming years via a special fund.
It is intended to help eliminate equipment shortages that have existed for years among the troops and to ensure that the armed forces are fully operational.
Because the money to bypass the debt brake should come entirely from loans, they want to change the Basic Law.
However, this requires a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag, which the coalition alone does not have.
Negotiations with the Union have therefore been going on for weeks.
Above all, the Union insists on legal clarification that the money will only be used for the Bundeswehr.
The wording "to strengthen alliance and defense capabilities" that has been planned so far, on the other hand, leaves a lot of leeway.
Middelberg argued that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had clearly announced that the money was intended for the armed forces.
However, the Greens and parts of the SPD were "a great distance from the positions of their own chancellor".
In addition, the Union demands a permanent increase in the defense budget.
Scholz had announced the rearmament of the Bundeswehr at the end of February as a consequence of the Russian attack on Ukraine.
til/dpa/AFP
