During his tenure as the new defense minister during the Ukraine war, Boris Pistorius was immediately thrown in at the deep end.
He talks about the Bundeswehr budget.
Munich - The new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is fully challenged right at the beginning of his term - because of the Ukraine war, the eyes are also directed towards Germany.
There, the country attacked by Russia is hoping for much-needed help in the form of weapons.
Ukraine War: Pistorius comments on expenditures and supplies to Kiev
At the Munich Security Conference, Pistorius emphasized that he had no reservations about the armaments industry, but that he would "prefer to spend the money he had available differently."
"I'm a child of the Cold War and was relieved when it was over in 1990," he told Spiegel
magazine
in an interview.
He never imagined that he would one day have to spend billions on weapons.
"But the world demands it.
This is an ugly development,” said the minister.
In the interview he also spoke about his first official acts.
He flew to Ramstein on his "first day at work and expected me to sit across from many representatives of nations who wanted me to approve the delivery of many Leopards to Ukraine".
But things turned out differently: With the exception of Poland, there were no commitments at all.
"That surprised me because I expected something different after the public coverage," he admitted.
Instead of the hoped-for 31 Leopard main battle tanks, Germany and Portugal could only deliver 17, which apparently surprised the minister.
He did not want to rule out the possibility that Germany would equip the future Ukrainian tank battalion with additional vehicles from Bundeswehr stocks.
On the other hand, he ruled out further deliveries of Patriot air defense systems, since there is only one of the systems in Germany.
Pistorius talks about possible downsizing of the Ministry of Defense
According to his own statements, the SPD minister is probably considering downsizing the ministry.
"3,000 people at two locations in Bonn and Berlin are actually a lot," he said.
He wants to speed up processes and concentrate on the essentials, which, however, does not mean immediate job cuts.
He also wants to initiate reforms in the procurement office of the Bundeswehr in Constance.
There it is necessary to rebuild, because there are "processes, structures, the speed and the methods that simply no longer fit into the times after the Russian attack on Ukraine."
A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
The new minister also looked ahead to his responsibilities in terms of the organization of the ministry.
"We will also have to look at the structure of the ministry," he underlined.
In addition, there must be "clear responsibilities with clear demarcations and no parallel structures." He also announced the return to a planning team.
Ex-Federal Defense Minister Thomas de Mazière (CDU) had abolished this.
(
cgsc)