BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – In the struggle for the billions in armament of the Bundeswehr, the Ministry of Finance reacted with irritation to accusations from CDU leader Friedrich Merz. In the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” newspaper, the Union faction leader had warned that the planned special fund would fail and accused the federal government of not wanting to negotiate seriously. The German Press Agency learned from circles in the Ministry of Finance on Saturday that Finance Minister Christian Lindner had coordinated the timetable with the Union’s negotiators and expressly offered an appointment before Easter.
“Whether, given the dimension of the crisis, the negotiators’ calendars are a topic for discussion is a question of style,” said the FDP politician. However, it is disappointing to provide incomplete information. Apparently, the Union is looking for pretexts to evade responsibility for the state of the armed forces after 16 years of CDU-led governments.
The federal government plans to invest 100 billion euros in better equipment for the Bundeswehr in the coming years. Because high loans have to be taken out for this, the project should be secured in the Basic Law. However, the traffic light coalition alone does not have a majority for this – that is why the Union is being spoken to.
Merz criticized the fact that the four-person negotiating group had only met once in the past six weeks. In the past week, an appointment was canceled by the federal government, the next one is only due in a good two weeks. The CDU leader doubted that a result could be available by mid-June./tam/DP/zb
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