There is disagreement in the SPD leadership about the future amount of the defense budget. While Defense Minister Pistorius received backing from SPD leader Klingbeil when he demanded ten billion euros more for the Bundeswehr, Co-Chairman Esken was hesitant.
SPD party leader Saskia Esken reacted cautiously to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius' call for ten billion euros more a year for the Bundeswehr. "Ten billion euros is a lot of money. At the same time, the coalition partner FDP insists that we return to the debt brake and budget consolidation," Esken told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". The SPD politician Pistorius wants an additional ten billion euros for the defense budget in addition to the 100 billion euros special pot set up in 2022 for the 2024 budget and the budgets for the following years.
Esken said: "We have set up a special fund of 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr in order to be able to guarantee our national defense and alliance capability. It is now important that the procurement department in the Ministry of Defense is enabled to use this money in a targeted manner. Then we will talk further. "
The SPD leader pointed out that the traffic light coalition had agreed on important projects - for example for socio-ecological restructuring, the expansion of digital networks and systems, overcoming child poverty and for equal opportunities in education. They are not yet funded. "That's why we now have to put all projects side by side and agree on priorities and ways of financing them," she said, referring to the 2024 budget, over which Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Liberal Finance Minister Christian Lindner had clashed violently. The departments have additional requests worth billions.
Unlike Esken, SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil expressed his approval of his party member's plans. Pistorius has his "support" for the demand for an increase in the defense budget, said SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil last Tuesday. In the past you have felt too safe. This certainty disappeared on February 24th. Instead, what is needed now is reasonable financial resources for the Bundeswehr. He was glad that Pistorius opened the debate again, said Klingbeil.
