Germany’s defense spending needs to be beefed up long-term. But should this come through more debt, or at the expense of social spending?
Germany needs to invest massively in beefing up its security
Chancellor Olaf Scholz caused a stir with an almost casual statement: “My goal is that we finance the expenditure for the Bundeswehr from the general budget once the special fund has expired,” he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung daily a few days ago.
The “special fund” is the €100 billion ($108 bn) established two years ago, after Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine. The fund is a special loan taken out to strengthen the German military. Ammunition has been procured and expensive weapons systems have been ordered.
Current estimates say that money will likely be used up by 2027.
A doubling of the defense budget?
German defense experts have calculated that instead of the €52 billion currently earmarked for defense in the federal budget, more than double that amount — €108 billion — will be needed. And that money is simply to be “…saved elsewhere,” as Scholz remarked in the interview.
This would be possible only by slashing the budget for Labor and Social Affairs. This year, it amounts to around €176 billion — over a third of the entire budget — and is earmarked for welfare and unemployment benefits and pension payments.
Eva Högl, a lawmaker with Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) is the Bundestag’s Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces. She believes that the Bundeswehr needs dramatically more money than it has now to be able to defend the country against a possible attack. She puts the figure at €300 billion.
“It must be made clear to the population that we need to prioritize and change things if we want to continue to live in freedom and democracy,” Roderich Kiesewetter, a lawmaker with the center-right Christian Democrat opposition, told DW. He points out that without security, the economy would suffer. He warns that much more drastic restrictions would be put on public expenditure if, for example, Ukraine were to fall apart and millions of Ukrainians were to be displaced.
Kiesewetter’s conclusion: “I believe that playing off defense costs against the social budget is a misplaced debate given the threat that Germany is also exposed to.”
But the governing Social Democrats and their leftist coalition partner, the Greens, are worried. Tanks and weapons instead of social benefits payments and pensions? That is hardly something they can sell to their electorate.
According to SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert, Scholz has been misunderstood. In an interview with public broadcaster ARD, Kühnert said that social security and the territorial security of Germany, the EU and NATO belong together like “two inseparable sides of the same coin.”
Higher military spending combined with simultaneous welfare and pension cuts would strengthen right-wing populists, warned SPD lawmaker Ralf Stegner.
More debt or new special funds?
The “debt brake” enshrined in the German constitution stipulates that the government may only take out new loans to a very limited extent. That is why the Bundeswehr’s special fund was established through a loophole: With the support of the CDU/CSU opposition it was written into the constitution as a special fund, fed by new debts taken on outside the budget.
Ricarda Lang, co-chair of the Green Party, believes such a measure could be repeated. “That would be one way of ensuring that we can spend enough on defense,” she said and added: “Funding cannot come from the current budget alone. We must ensure that the security situation is not played off against social security in the country.”
However, the smallest coalition partner in Scholz’s three-way coalition government, the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP), are siding with the conservative opposition refusing fresh debt or tax hikes. “We need more funds to finance personnel, supplies and ammunition in the long term. This cannot be done with extra debt, we must reprioritize the overall budget,” FDP defense politician Alexander Müller told Der Spiegel weekly.
The debate has only just begun, but it is already going round in circles. But no one disputes that the Bundeswehr urgently needs to be modernized.
This article was originally written in German.
While you’re here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.
Author: Jens Thurau
News Related
-
, Nov. 28 — One of the most anticipated Android releases for 2023 has been the Google Pixel 8 lineup. The Pixel series is often considered the best of what Android has to offer since it brings the true stock Android experience. The Pixel 8 Pro was globally released on ...
See Details:
Google Pixel 8 Pro Review: Is this the best Android phone of 2023?
-
A blank space or an (NR) indicates no readings received. An (e) indicates that the water level has been estimated. An (w) indicates that the conditions were very windy, resulting in an inaccurate reading. Omatjenne Dam does not have abstraction facilities. The dam contents are according to the latest dam ...
See Details:
Namwater Dam Bulletin on Monday 27 November 2023
-
Dhaka, Nov. 27 — Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus has been appointed chair of the international advisory board of Moscow’s Financial University (under the government of the Russian Federation). On November 23, he joined a high-level strategic meeting with Prof Stanislav Prokofiev, Rector of the Financial University, and his colleagues. ...
See Details:
Dr Yunus appointed chair of Moscow Financial University's international advisory board
-
In a pivotal encounter at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 World Cup Africa Final Monday, the Cricket Cranes faced Nigeria, knowing that a win could significantly boost their chances of securing one of the coveted tickets to the 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and the USA.Nigeria won ...
See Details:
Victory over Nigeria puts Uganda on the brink
-
Capture 1 The Bank Ghana (BoG) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has maintained the key policy rate at 30 percent, while introducing additional liquidity management measures to address excess liquidity and reinforce the disinflation process. Announcing the committee’s decision on Monday following its 115th meeting, BoG Governor Dr. Ernest Addison said ...
See Details:
BoG holds policy rate at 30%, tightens liquidity measures
-
Renita Holmes has been displaced four times in the past three years by rising rents With sea levels rising around the globe, Miami, in the US state of Florida, is facing an urgent need to adapt. As property investors turn their gaze inland, away from the exclusive low-lying beach area, ...
See Details:
When sea levels rise, so does your rent
-
Picture2 In a groundbreaking moment, Mrs. Adelaide Siaw Agyepong, CEO-American International School, has achieved yet another milestone by being crowned ‘Icon of Inspiration and Impact for the Year 2023’. The crowning achievement took place in Accra, where Mrs. Siaw Agyepong surpassed contemporaries to clinch this prestigious title at the 5th ...
See Details:
American International School CEO honoured as ‘Icon of Inspiration and Impact’
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
Sierra Leone prison breaks co-ordinated - minister
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
Address the rise of single parenthood
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
Hyundai Chief Picked as Auto Industry Leader of the Year
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
Unmarried People Under 35 Outnumber Married Ones
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
European interior ministers in Hungary to discuss migration
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
Japan on the watch for unlicensed taxis around Narita airport amid foreign tourism spike
-
Freetown’s streets were almost empty on Sunday after a curfew was imposed Gunmen in Sierra Leone attacked a military barracks and freed hundreds of prisoners in a “co-ordinated and properly planned” attack, the country’s information minister has said. Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital ...
See Details:
ECOWAS to send high-powered delegation on solidarity visit to Sierra Leone
OTHER NEWS
Despite doing education at the university, Mellon Kenyangi, also known as Mama Bear, did not think of going to class, and teaching students was her dream job.“Since it was not ...
Read more »
213 Sri Lanka Cricket’s Chairman of Selectors, Pramodya Wickramasinghe reported to the Sports Ministry’s Special Investigation Unit( SMSIU) for the Prevention of Sports Offences yesterday for the second day. He ...
Read more »
137 Malindu Dairy (Pvt) Ltd., a leading food production company in Sri Lanka, won the Silver Award in the medium-scale dairy and associated products category at the Industrial Excellence Awards ...
Read more »
Africans Urged to Invest Among themselves, Explore Investment Opportunities in Continent Addis Ababa, November 27/2023(ENA)-The Embassy of Angola in Ethiopia has organized lecture on the “Foreign Investment Opportunities in Angola ...
Read more »
144 The dynamic front row player Mohan Wimalaratne will lead the Police Sports Club Rugby team at the upcoming Nippon Paint Sri Lanka Rugby Major League XV-a-side Rugby Tournament scheduled ...
Read more »
Dozens of people living with disabilities from New Hope Inclusive in Entumbane, Bulawayo on Saturday last week received an early Christmas gift in the form of groceries. The groceries were ...
Read more »
The East African Community (EAC) Summit of Heads of State has admitted the Federal Republic of Somalia to the regional bloc, making it its 8th member country. The decision was ...
Read more »