Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has apparently expressed anger about the lack of budget funds for the Bundeswehr. “I don’t have to do that here,” said the politician, according to a report in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
The newspaper cited participants in a coalition breakfast in which budget and defense politicians from the traffic light coalition took part. Pistorius added that this was not a threat to resign.
According to the report, the background is a statement by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), who warned the ministers – without specifically naming the defense department – to exercise spending discipline. Pistorius had previously called for an increase in the defense budget by at least 6.5 billion euros for 2025. According to Christian Lindner’s (FDP) Ministry of Finance, a volume of 52 billion euros is currently planned.
The “Süddeutsche” allowed another high-ranking Bundeswehr representative to have his say in the text: “He (Pistorius, editor) has the Chancellor against him and the parliamentary group leadership, they are letting him get into trouble.” Pistorius’ opponents apparently do not recognize the seriousness of the security policy situation. The situation reports on the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin showed that “one should be afraid and anxious,” the article continued.
Pistorius has repeatedly advocated exempting additional defense spending as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine from the debt brake. This should ensure that, given the threat situation, at least two percent of economic output can be reliably spent on defense every year. The country’s security should also be valued constitutionally more highly than the debt brake. However, Lindner rejects any exception to the debt brake, and Scholz has not yet supported the defense minister.