10 billion more per year
Union supports Pistorius in the Bundeswehr budget
May 20, 2024, 5:39 a.m
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Defense Minister Pistorius wants to make the Bundeswehr ready for war, but has to make do with a budget that is too tight. The Union’s defense expert warns Scholz and Lindner not to save money on Germany’s security.
From the perspective of Union defense expert Florian Hahn, the Bundeswehr needs significantly more money. “The underfunding of the Bundeswehr and thus the defense budget is obvious and increasingly a sign of an erroneous policy of omission by this federal government in matters of our security,” said the defense policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. In view of austerity constraints, difficult negotiations are currently underway in the federal government about the 2025 budget. According to media reports, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius requested significantly more money for the Bundeswehr.
The CSU politician Hahn called for a “strong and continuous” increase in the defense budget – in order to achieve, beyond the 100 billion special fund, the Bundeswehr’s growing tasks for ongoing operations, intensive training activities, the establishment of the Lithuanian brigade and further investments in full equipment. It is not for nothing that Pistorius has already demanded 10 billion euros more annually; that seems to be a first realistic and necessary step.
“Continued Haggling”
The fact that the SPD minister has already rebuffed Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Chancellor Olaf Scholz shows how weak his standing in the cabinet is and how seriously the traffic light takes its own “turning point”, according to Hahn – not at all. “The continued haggling over much smaller sums within the federal government is just further evidence of this.”
He expected that “Federal Minister Pistorius, who seems to have recognized the urgency of the situation as the only one in this government, will finally get the funds for the Bundeswehr, which they need more urgently than ever,” Hahn continued. “But I’m afraid he won’t be able to get his way once again. So he’s becoming more and more of an announcement minister whose word counts for nothing. That’s bad for the Bundeswehr and our security.”