As of: February 13, 2024, 6:26 p.m
By: Sonja Ruf
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Should the special fund for the Bundeswehr be increased by a further 200 billion more?
The CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter brings his proposal into discussion.
Berlin – The topic of building up armaments is currently very popular in the political debate in Germany.
The strained budget situation, the situation in Ukraine and the possible crumbling financial support from the United States: ramping up arms production is expensive and requires money.
And: So far there is only
a
100 billion special fund for the Bundeswehr.
Or?
In recent days, several political voices have spoken out highlighting the need to put more money into the defense sector.
Conversely, as we all know that the budget for 2024 is tight, this could again result in a reform of the debt brake.
Such a suggestion could also be heard from Chancellor Scholz's party environment.
A few days ago, the SPD budget politician Andreas Schwarz said: "Excluding all defense costs from the debt brake would definitely be attractive." He thinks: "We should, similar to the economic component, which allows higher debts depending on the economic situation, think about a security component.”
CDU politician and Colonel Roderich Kiesewetter could also imagine a 300 billion special fund for the Bundeswehr.
© Imago/Political Moments
Kiesewetter (CDU): “300 instead of 100 billion” so that the Bundeswehr can become combat-ready
Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU) spoke out from the ranks of the opposition.
He could imagine an increase in the special fund for the Bundeswehr to a total of 300 billion and emphasized in an interview with the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
: "It is completely clear that we need 300 billion instead of 100 billion so that the Bundeswehr becomes fit for war." In the debate However, when it comes to increasing the debt brake, Kiesewetter fears that the money will be misused and emphasizes that the 2 percent of budget spending for defense must be set anyway, whether with or without a higher debt brake.
So far, CDU and CSU politicians have resisted a fundamental debate about increasing the debt brake in the Federal Council, where a two-thirds majority would be needed.
However, Kiesewetter admitted that if Germany were to become a real war target for Russia, much higher spending would be necessary.
In principle, the larger parliamentary groups in the Bundestag seem to agree: more money should be invested in the defense sector.
There is only disagreement about how to get there, given the strained budget situation.
Sentiment on defense spending: United on the direction, divided on the way there
And what does the faction that appoints the Federal Finance Minister actually say?
The FDP just waves it off wearily.
She doesn't want to get involved in either debate initiated by the CDU/CSU faction.
A few days ago, the Federal Minister of Finance emphasized in an interview with the
Munich Merkur
: “We don’t have a revenue problem that we have to solve by increasing taxes or reducing the debt brake.”
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For FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr, more growth would form the sole basis for more defense spending: “If we succeed in generating more growth, we will be able to permanently invest more money in defense.
That has to be the goal.” In addition to a reform of the debt brake that was rejected by the Federal Ministry of Finance, one can only assume that things are currently likely to be difficult with a 300 billion Bundeswehr special fund.
Prime Minister Frederiksen: “The war in Ukraine concerns us all.”
How important the question of the level of defense spending will become became clear only recently.
A few days ago, Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Unterlüß in Lower Saxony together with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (both SPD) and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
There, in just a few months, armaments will be produced on a large scale in a newly built ammunition factory owned by Rheinmetall.
The Rheinmetall company bears the construction costs at the Unterlüß site alone, although there is already an acceptance guarantee from the federal government for the plant.
“We have to move away from manufacturing – towards large-scale production of armaments,” said Scholz there.
Many of the Bundeswehr's ammunition depots are currently not filled, also due to the important military aid for Ukraine.
In this context, Frederiksen emphasized: “The war in Ukraine concerns us all.”
Shocking statements from US election candidate Trump
In the debate about the issue of rearmament, the focus is not only on military aid for Ukraine, but also on the transatlantic relationship between Germany and the United States.
As is well known, the presidential election will take place there this year and election candidate Donald Trump shocked his NATO partners with drastic statements just a few days ago.
The point was that the USA might not want to protect NATO members in the event of an attack if they had not met their 2 percent commitment in the past.
Trump added that he would "even encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they want."
(Sonja Ruf)