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SPD General Secretary Kühnert: "No competitive discussion"
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
After the agreement on the 100 billion program for the Bundeswehr, SPD Secretary General Kevin Kühnert assured that in return there would be no cutbacks in the traffic light coalition's social projects.
"The traffic light government does not have to refrain from any of its social goals," said Kühnert in Berlin.
There will be "no competitive discussion" between investments in the Bundeswehr and other expenditure, for example for pensions.
Late on Sunday evening, after weeks of wrangling, the Union and the coalition had agreed on the legal basis for the planned special fund of 100 billion euros for the rearmament of the Bundeswehr.
In principle, this gives the green light for weapon orders from the armaments industry on a large scale.
The agreement on the special fund for the Bundeswehr met with broad approval in the traffic light parties and the Union.
The left, however, criticized the move.
Green youth criticizes the decision, Mützenich speaks of an "abstruse indicator"
The Green Youth also reacted disappointed to the agreement.
"One cannot be satisfied with this result," said the head of the Green youth organization, Sarah-Lee Heinrich, on Monday of the German Press Agency in Berlin.
"We're constantly having to hear people everywhere saying there's no money, and now 100 billion are being made available for the Bundeswehr alone with a snap of our fingers," complained Heinrich.
»We stick to it: large round sums do not create security.
This is what happens when you enter into negotiations with the Union.«
If Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner now insists on complying with the debt brake again from next year and rejects additional taxes for the rich, he is trying "to open the door for a policy of social indifference," says Heinrich.
»The many people who cannot make ends meet because of the increased energy and food prices should not understand this.«
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich was critical of a fixed two percent target for defense spending and emphasized that the Bundestag decides on the budget.
The Union is calling for "a completely abstruse code to be written into the Basic Law in order to impose that following generations always achieve two percent," said Mützenich.
This is "completely wrong".
Mützenich emphasized: "We made an important decision last night to spend 100 billion, I would say for the next four or five years, which will then also ensure this additional increase in the defense budget to make large investments on the way bring.« And then you just have to »remember what else is necessary«.
The SPD parliamentary group leader stated that the NATO partners in Wales agreed in 2014 to move towards the two percent target.
First of all, this number doesn't say anything.
»800 billion euros are spent every year on military and armaments by NATO countries.
I mean, that shows that we don't have an overall underfunding within NATO, but that the individual armed forces don't work well together," said Mützenich.
asa/dpa/AFP
