Status: 02/26/2022 5:10 p.m
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Even if the Bundeswehr does not intervene in the Ukraine war, the conflict shows the deficiencies in the troops. The Bundeswehr Association calls for an immediate program and seems to be heard in the coalition.
With the war in Ukraine, the debate about the Bundeswehr has flared up again in Germany. Bad equipment, too little money, too little political support – the problems have been known for years. Now the consequences are visible. Army Inspector Alfons Mais pointed this out when he said on Thursday that the army was “blank”.
The chairman of the Bundeswehr Association, André Wüstner, therefore calls for an immediate program to improve the equipment of the troops morning magazine. Politicians must now “finally wake up”. The Bundeswehr has massive problems in the areas of ammunition, vehicles, ships, aircraft and spare parts.
Regarding the Ukrainian demands for German weapons and military equipment, Wüstner said that the Bundeswehr itself was at the limits of its capabilities and supplies. “We can’t deliver what we don’t have ourselves,” he said.
Greens open to troop support
Willingness to support the troops comes from the Greens: party leader Ricarda Lang called for “good equipment” for the Bundeswehr. “We anchored in the coalition agreement that we want to set up our army well. And it’s no secret that it isn’t at the moment,” she told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “That’s why we have to look closely in the next few weeks at how we proceed here,” added Lang.
The foreign policy spokesman for the Greens parliamentary group, Jürgen Trittin, made a similar statement. The Bundeswehr has “blatant equipment deficiencies” that need to be fixed. In addition, Germany must improve its capabilities for joint self-defense in the NATO alliance, for example in air defense. “More money for external security in the current crisis situation does not fit with the black zero dogma.” That will put the coalition ahead of discussions.
Doubts about Bundeswehr equipment
Tim Diekmann, ARD Berlin, daily news at 8:00 p.m., February 25, 2022
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SPD warns, FDP wants to react at short notice
This is indicated by statements from the SPD. Group leader Rolf Mützenich warned against planning higher military spending as a sole reaction to the Ukraine war. “We will provide the Bundeswehr with everything it needs for its mission. But more rearmament cannot be the answer,” he told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “It would be wiser to finally pool our military forces in Europe.” An SPD parliamentary group spokesman added on Saturday that Mützenich was not against better equipment for the Bundeswehr, i.e. not against a higher defense budget as in previous budget years. He only points out that rearmament cannot be the sole and wisest answer.
Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), has called for a short-term increase in spending. “The defense budget must be increased significantly,” she told the “Tagesspiegel”. FDP leader Christian Lindner had made a similar statement: the funds for the Bundeswehr would have to be increased because the German armed forces “have been managed for many, many years for wear and tear”. German politics must learn “that the defense of alliances is also a political priority”.
“Must equip the Bundeswehr in such a way that it can do justice to the task”
Report from Berlin, February 20, 2022
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CSU: “Alarm signal for German politics”
Demands for more money for the Bundeswehr are also coming from the Union: In the morning magazine, the new CSU General Secretary Stephan Mayer spoke of a significant increase in the defense budget. It is important to “improve the Bundeswehr’s alliance and defense capabilities and, very specifically, to strive for the two percent target by 2023 if possible,” said Mayer. What is meant is the commitment of the NATO partners to spend two percent of the gross domestic product on defense by 2024. Most recently, Germany was at 1.55 percent and thus very far from the target. Mayer said there were reports that the Bundeswehr was missing elementary things like warm underwear. That must be “an alarm signal for German politics”. Appropriate equipment is required. That is not to be equated with rearmament.
Who delivers what? Ukraine and the debate about the Bundeswehr
Georg Schwarte, ARD Berlin, February 26, 2022 5:17 p.m
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