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Berlin (dpa) - The SPD wants to put the procurement of armed drones required by the Union for the Bundeswehr on hold.

The SPD parliamentary group had agreed not to agree to arming the Heron TP drone for the time being, but rather to “openly and publicly discuss it openly,” said defense policy spokesman Fritz Felgentreu on Twitter.

With reference to his own credibility, he declared that he would resign as spokesman.

After a lengthy debate and expert hearings, Felgentreu signaled approval for the armaments project.

Regarding his attitude, he explained: “Either I stand by the public and the armed forces, although everyone knows that I disagree - not very credible.

I'm too stubborn for that.

I say that self-critically, not coquettishly. "

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SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich joined the publicly expressed concerns of party leader Norbert Walter-Borjans, reported the newspapers of the Funke media group.

Mützenich had stated in the parliamentary group meeting that there had been no “detailed and broad debate” about the armaments project as required in the coalition agreement.

The FDP and the Greens had already rejected criticism of the lack of a debate as inaccurate and asked the SPD to decide now for or against arming.

According to the report, Mützenich said, according to participants, that there is no doubt that “armed and unarmed drones can provide further protection for soldiers on duty”.

However, we also know from practice that armed drones can quickly lower the inhibition threshold for military violence.

Mützenich pointed out to the SPD MPs that the massive use of drones on the part of Azerbaijan had decisively decided the conflict in the South Caucasus with Armenia.

Many countries would conclude that “we need these weapons too”.

In the evening, the Ministry of Defense distributed a quote from Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU), who had declared on the lack of armament: "We are negligently jeopardizing the lives of soldiers and I want to change that."

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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201215-99-705744 / 2

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