FDP immediately contradicts
Kiesewetter: “War can only be won with debt”
25.05.2024, 17:16
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Ukraine needs the support of its allies more than ever to defend itself against Russia’s war of aggression. CDU foreign policy expert Kieswetter is calling on the German government to go “all in” – and to take on debt to do so.
CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter has called on the federal government to declare a budget emergency because of the war in Ukraine. “The war can only be won with debt,” Kiesewetter told “Spiegel.” Ukraine urgently needs support. The war should therefore “serve as an emergency situation in order to finance defense and support for Ukraine independently of the debt brake,” said Kiesewetter.
The CDU MP criticized it as inexplicable that the federal government had classified the corona pandemic as an emergency situation in order to finance 200 billion euros for a brake on electricity and gas prices, but the war did not meet the criteria of an emergency. “Ukraine can still win, but only if we support Ukraine ‘all in’: militarily, financially, politically,” said Kiesewetter.
According to Article 115 of the Basic Law, the Bundestag can declare a budgetary emergency “in the event of natural disasters or exceptional emergency situations”. In such an emergency, the prescribed credit limits can be exceeded.
In the traffic light coalition, however, the FDP has so far vehemently opposed such a step, while the SPD and the Greens are open to it. FDP deputy parliamentary group leader Christoph Meyer contradicted Kiesewetter. “Next year we expect almost a trillion euros in tax revenue,” said Meyer. “So there is more than enough money for defense. Instead of burdening taxpayers with debt, we must honestly prioritize government spending.”
Hofreiter calls for defence fund
Meyer called on CDU leader Friedrich Merz to clarify the Christian Democrats’ position on the debt brake. The budget expert said: “Merz must now explain what applies in the CDU: the position of the state premiers and of Kiesewetter, who want to scrap the debt brake and fake some kind of emergency, or the clear commitment to budgetary discipline that Mr Merz declares in Sunday speeches.”
In view of the threat from Russia, the Green Party’s foreign policy expert Anton Hofreiter suggested a 500 billion euro European defense fund. “This should finance up to 30 percent of armament projects in which at least three member states are involved – provided that 80 percent of the money invested goes to European companies,” Hofreiter told the Funke newspapers.
The funds should also be used to harden European infrastructure, said Hofreiter. To finance it, he suggested structuring the defense fund in a similar way to the Corona reconstruction fund: “The EU Commission would take out loans on the capital markets for this purpose.”