April 9, 2024 (EIRNS)—Against the general background of the German government keeping strict budget austerity and refusing to invest substantial sums into the long-overdue upgrade of the national infrastructure—instead plundering other budgets to support the climate-protection fund—the proposal by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to make one exception, to fund militarization, is a scandal.
Shifts in the budget alone would not be enough “with the amounts we are talking about,” said Pistorius yesterday on the ZDF program “Was nun, Herr Pistorius?” (What Now, Mr. Pistorius?). The amount is several hundred billion euros from 2027 on. He added: “In case of doubt, we will also have to talk about additional debt—in this coalition or in the next one” which will take power after the 2025 national election.
Pistorius said that consideration should be given as to whether to “create an exception” when applying the “debt brake” rule to security spending. In the government coalition, the Free Democrats (FDP) are vehemently opposed to a relaxation of the debt brake, as demanded by Social Democrats and Greens. The debt brake regulation enshrined in the Basic Law sets strict limits on taking on new debt.
