Special assets: Agreement soon?

CDU parliamentary group leader considers compromises in the Basic Law to be difficult

Created: 05/29/2022, 06:28

By: Kathrin Reikowski

Friedrich Merz and Robert Habeck (right) in the Bundestag (archive image) © political-moments/Imago

The special fund for the Bundeswehr is to come: there are still open points between the traffic light and the Union.

Where the compromise still fails.

Berlin – Political struggle for the planned special fund for the Bundeswehr: Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) hopes for an agreement in the

: “That the Bundeswehr will receive as many new weapons and functional equipment as possible and that the financing of necessary security-related systems is not excluded .” The first parliamentary manager of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei (CDU), was also optimistic in the

, “that we can reach an agreement on Sunday”.

He had previously accused the Greens of arguing ideologically.

The Union has still set several conditions for approval.

What is controversial is exactly what the money should be spent on.

The traffic light coalition needs the Union faction to pass the special fund.

The Bundeswehr is to be strengthened with the special program of 100 billion euros - because it is to be anchored in the Basic Law, a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and Bundesrat is required.

Bundeswehr special fund: Greens call for a compromise

SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich accuses the CDU and CSU of party political games: "I'm concerned about the reliability of the Union, which does not focus on the interests of the Bundeswehr, but on its party tactical advantage," said Mützenich of the

.

"Friedrich Merz made that clear when he stated that only part of his parliamentary group could agree to better equipment for the Bundeswehr."

Green politician Anton Hofreiter said in the

: "The Union should not block itself further." The pressure of expectations on the part of the allies is great in many areas.

"Therefore, there would be little understanding if the strengthening of alliance and defense capabilities did not play a role."

Habeck said: "It is undisputed that the Bundeswehr is now being made operational as soon as possible, that is necessary and expressly correct.

However, the country's ability to defend itself is not defined solely by the number of weapons it has, but also by protection against digital attacks on critical infrastructure.” It is clear that all investments from the special fund relate to the ability to defend itself.

“So we're not talking about buying technical equipment for development cooperation.

In my view, this debate about money is easy to resolve.”

Special assets for the Bundeswehr: CDU man finds compromises difficult

Union parliamentary group Vice President Mathias Middelberg told the

, however, that compromises with regard to wording in the Basic Law were difficult: "It must be clear that the special fund is used for the Bundeswehr, not for other purposes." negotiations for the special fund.

"We should not wait any longer because nothing less than the security of our country is at stake."

When asked when an agreement had to be reached with the special fund, Mützenich referred to the budget being passed next week.

"It makes sense to also decide on the special fund," he said.