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Green’s boss, Annalena Baerbock, has proven open to more spending on defense and the military. In particular, he called for greater European participation in defense policy: “Europe has been turning on itself for years,” he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The US administration of Donald Trump has turned its back on the world and “the void that has emerged is being filled by authoritarian states.”
If the West does not want to leave the field to countries like China, Russia or Turkey, Europe must take its “role of peace” in the world more seriously, he said. Faced with the imminent entry of American Democrat Joe Biden into the White House, Baerbock advocated for a new way of working with the United States.
In doing so, he referred to the dispute over German weapons spending: “First we must talk about a strategic realignment, then spending. It must also be about NATO capabilities and specific burden sharing. A theoretical goal of two percent doesn’t really help. “NATO has set a goal for each member state to invest two percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in its armed forces and equipment. A new US administration under Biden is also expected to insist on this. Germany does not want to reach more than 1.5 percent by 2024.
Baerbock emphasized that investments were necessary in the German Bundeswehr, but specifically: ‘There is a lack of night vision devices to practice with, not to mention flight lessons. We have to be honest about it. Yes, in some areas you have to invest more so that the rifles can fire and the night vision devices work. On the other hand, a lot of money is “thrown out the window” in the military budget. Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) also recently emphasized in a keynote address that major new projects should not be done at the expense of core equipment.
In case of green government involvement, the green leader announced talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. It should also be about strong European military operations. “It will not be easy. But we must not stoop, ”he said.
Internal party debate on Bundeswehr operations
The leader of the Greens in the Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, recently commented on possible missions for the Bundeswehr. Among other things, he had called for a plan in the event that a UN mandate for a Federal Armed Forces operation in a crisis region was not fulfilled, in order to make aid possible.
The leader of the parliamentary group did not see a deviation from the party’s pacifist values. “The Greens also have pacifist roots, but they have never been a pacifist party. However, it is correct: we do not easily make the decision about foreign deployments of the German armed forces. It will stay that way, ”he told the Rheinische Post.
However, many greens see themselves differently. In particular, the party leaders really want to bridge the gap between the real pragmatic left and the more idealistic left. The camp on the left had clearly positioned itself before Göring-Eckardt’s demand and rejects an operation without a UN mandate.
