Lambrecht often has to take criticism for her leadership style as defense minister. However, she rejects allegations that she has not initiated any relevant procurement for the Bundeswehr. The troops had been "saved down for decades," she explains.
Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht from the SPD has blamed her predecessors for the poor equipment of the Bundeswehr. "I found these problems when I took office," Lambrecht told Spiegel magazine. "What has been neglected over the years and decades, I can't fix in one fell swoop," she dismissed criticism of her leadership.
Lambrecht criticized the fact that the Bundeswehr had been "saved for decades". In order to compensate for this, there is now "a lot to do" for them. An example is the lack of ammunition. "Far too little has been procured in the past, even ammunition depots have been closed," said the minister. That is "final now".
Lambrecht dismissed allegations that she had not initiated any relevant procurement for the Bundeswehr when she took office almost a year ago, referring to budget law. Accordingly, it is only now that the budget for 2023 has been decided that it can make the first contracts for new weapon systems or equipment. "This means that a lot of what has been missed in recent years can now be made up for," announced the minister.
However, Lambrecht has already called for significantly more funds for the Bundeswehr in the 2024 budget. "To believe that you can somehow get by with 50 billion euros will not work, and everyone is aware of that," she said, looking at the so far in the Amount earmarked for financial planning. She also called for the NATO target of spending two percent of economic output on the military to be made mandatory in the planned new national security strategy.
According to a recent study by the German Economic Institute (IW), Germany will not only miss this target in the current year and next, but will probably also do so again from 2026 Two percent quota can be achieved.
