Jakarta –
Recent threats from Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, that the United States “will not protect Europe if there is still a gap in the defense budget, and will encourage Russia to do whatever they want,” fueled pressure from politicians on the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to drastically increase his military budget.
Because even though it has increased, Germany’s current defense budget of 51.8 billion Euros is still far below NATO’s two percent requirement, which means a defense budget of 85 billion Euros. Chancellor Scholz also announced a special budget for the purchase of the main defense system equipment worth 100 billion Euros, but that is outside the regular budget.
Roderich Kiesewetter, spokesman for the defense commission from the opposition Christian Democratic Union party, said that the special defense budget should be increased threefold. Meanwhile, the budget policy spokesman for the SPD government party, Andreas Schwarz, said that it would be a great relief if the defense budget were not subject to debt brake regulations, referring to legislation that limits the government’s ability to incur debt beyond budget capacity.
Piles of defense bills
Most analysts agree that the German military needs a larger budget to fulfill its defense responsibilities in NATO. Eva Högl, a member of parliament’s defense commission, said in her report from March last year that the Bundeswehr actually needed 300 billion euros to meet defense capability requirements.
“Trump’s speech reminded everyone what is at stake,” said Rafael Loss, defense strategy specialist at the European Council on Foreign Relations, ECFR.
Even though he is far behind, Chancellor Scholz promised that his coalition government would reach the two percent target during his term of office. This commitment was made after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Germany announced a special defense fund of 100 billion Euros for defense equipment spending until 2028.
According to some estimates, the Bundeswehr will still need up to 56 billion euros in additional funding every year.
Eliminating the nuclear umbrella taboo
Concerns about a Russian attack are so great that a number of politicians are now calling for a nuclear umbrella in Europe. Especially after Trump’s speech, calls for a European nuclear unit “could be problematic,” said Katarina Barley, a former SPD minister who is now running for election to the European parliament.
The nuclear issue can spark controversy. Currently, France is the only European Union country that has nuclear weapons. Three other EU member states, Austria, Ireland and Malta, signed the nuclear weapons ban pact.
Meanwhile, Germany has signed the “Two Plus Four” clause in the 1990 reunification agreement, not to buy or produce nuclear weapons. France is not planning to expand its nuclear weapons program.
“Moreover, who has the right to launch a nuclear attack?” said Rafael Loss, a specialist from the ECFR, “is the president of the European Commission? `Is the president of the European Council in charge? Should the European Parliament be involved? Do you see the problem?,” he said.
The European Union’s nuclear weapons “would seriously disrupt the global nuclear order. This step could be imitated by countries in other parts of the world and also force Germany to violate its international commitments,” he added.
“I don’t see a future where the European Union in its current form will be able to guarantee credible nuclear deterrence.”
rzn/as
Also see ‘Donald Trump Expels Residents Who Disturb His Speech During Campaign’:
(ita/ita)
2024-02-14 12:14:50
#Trumps #Speech #Forces #Germany #Improve #MilitaryDefense #Posture
