The Union faction is also calling for a drastic increase in the defense budget in view of the collective bargaining agreement in the public sector. “In absolute numbers, the defense budget has to grow by more than ten billion euros every year in order to be able to raise enough funds for the further development and modernization of the troops and the wage and salary increases,” said Union parliamentary group Vice-Chairman Johann David Wadephul (CDU). of the world”. This year the budget is around 50 billion euros.
The opposition politician assumes that the collective agreement will result in additional annual costs of around 3.1 billion euros for the defense budget. The entire federal cabinet is now called upon to “show colors as to how it really wants to advance the turning point,” said Wadephul. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) also wants to significantly expand the budget, according to earlier statements.
Colonel André Wüstner, Chairman of the German Armed Forces Association, sees the increase in the military budget as urgent not only because of the rising personnel costs and the necessary replacement of weapon systems, but also because of the commitments made in NATO. “We should not disappoint our partners again, because regardless of the deliveries to Ukraine, Germany’s credibility in the alliance is more at stake than ever,” Wüstner told the newspaper.
Green housekeeper Sebastian Schäfer had already pointed out the costs of the collective bargaining agreement, for example for the Bundeswehr, and in this context accused Christian Lindner’s (FDP) Federal Ministry of Finance of inadequate planning. In a reply to Schäfer, the Ministry of Defense had initially estimated the cost of the collective agreement at 118 million euros for 2023. If it were transferred to civil servants and soldiers, which is expected, additional funds of around 1.0 billion euros would be required for the ministry’s business area, according to the first forecast.
