A year after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the military commissioner Eva Högl sees problems in the procurement of armaments. In her opinion, more money is needed for this beyond the 100 billion special fund. In addition, she calls for long-term commitments to the arms industry.
The Bundestag Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl, has called for long-term financial commitments from politicians for the armaments industry and a simplification of the award procedure. "The industry must now build up production capacities as quickly as possible and for this they also need commitments from politicians that this will be financed - beyond the federal budget for 2024," said the SPD politician to the editorial network Germany.
In addition to the 100 billion special fund for the Bundeswehr, the defense budget must be increased by ten billion euros. "We need the money, but also better procedures and structures. Everything has to go much faster," Högl told the RND newspapers. This applies to the new procurement and the replacement of the device that will be handed over to Ukraine, which has been invaded by Russia. "We have to simplify the legal hurdles, the legal provisions. It starts with European public procurement law."
She spoke of a question of will. "If we have the political majorities, and I see them against the background of the situation and necessity in both the German Bundestag and the European Parliament, we have to invest more in our defense." Procurement problems exist in all European member states.
After taking office, Minister Boris Pistorius also called for an increase in the defense budget. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil had already said to ntv on Saturday: "We have decided on the 100 billion special assets. We are now going into budget negotiations for the next few years. Boris Pistorius made it clear that he just wanted more money is available for defense. My support has that."
Klingbeil's co-party leader Saskia Esken was a little more reserved on Sunday evening. Klingbeil also said on Saturday, before Esken's statements: "We even decided very clearly in the German Bundestag that we want to achieve the two percent that we have anchored, and now it will be implemented."
