For the rapid modernization of the Bundeswehr with a special fund of 100 billion euros, the entire administrative procedure must be streamlined, according to the assessment of the military commissioner Eva Högl (SPD).

“Priority should be above all the personal equipment.

Helmets, protective vests, clothing, backpacks," said Högl on Friday in the Bundestag during a debate on its 2021 annual report.

Johannes Leithauser

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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According to their report, the coalition and opposition factions protested almost unanimously that more had to be done to equip and equip the troops;

also to make service in the Bundeswehr more attractive.

Only the Left Party refused to increase the military budget.

But the controversy over the future level of the defense budget shimmered through unanimous praise and universal recognition for the army.

While the traffic light coalition repeatedly refers to the planned special budget of 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr and asserts that this would firstly cover investments in missing weapons and secondly fulfill the obligations to NATO to spend two percent of economic output on defense, the Union opposition denies that the funds of the special fund alone are sufficient.

The Union faction, whose votes are needed to set up the 100 billion program because the Basic Law has to be changed for this, renewed two conditions on Friday.

On the one hand, it must be ensured that the defense budget permanently meets the two percent quota, even when the special program has been exhausted.

On the other hand, it must be ensured that those 100 billion would also benefit the Bundeswehr and its equipment gaps in full.

Here the coalition currently has other, more vague ideas.

Dröge: Don't limit investments to the Bundeswehr

The leader of the Greens parliamentary group, Katharina Dröge, countered in both cases on Friday morning on Deutschlandfunk.

She said it makes no sense to permanently tie defense spending to the two percent mark, nor does the coalition want to commit to limiting the investment program to the Bundeswehr alone.

Instead, it should be available more generally for NATO's defense capabilities - then it could also include weapons aid for other member countries of the alliance.

The military commissioner Högl, who was previously a member of the Bundestag for the SPD but now acts non-partisan in her function, stated: "The war in Ukraine is changing everything." The soldiers of the Bundeswehr are aware "that things can get serious", they know also “that it has to be done quickly”.

Högl praised the "high level of professionalism and seriousness" of the troupe.

She said that the past year 2021 was "the year of the Bundeswehr", which was required in many fields at the same time.

She reminded of the airlift from Kabul, the Corona administrative assistance and the disaster relief after the flood in the Ahr valley.

In view of the current security concerns caused by the Russian war of aggression, Högl warned not to forget the consequences of the Afghanistan mission.

This mission changed the Bundeswehr.

It is "important that this mission is processed and that a commission of inquiry is set up soon," she warned.

When using the additional billions, Högl followed the arguments of the Union parties more closely.

She said the money had to "arrive fully in the force."

Like Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) and the defense politicians of the government factions, Högl praised the fact that the additional funds made it possible to ensure that the soldiers were fully equipped with clothing, helmets, protective vests and personal weapons by 2025;

due to a lack of funds, this goal has so far only been reached in a decade.

However, the Commissioner for the Armed Forces added that "there is still a lot to do" with regard to military material.

Last year, the ratio of operational equipment, i.e. operational aircraft, tanks and ships, increased slightly to a total of 77 percent.

But this is still not good enough.

Defense Minister Lambrecht claimed that the coalition had already made initial decisions on improving the equipment of the troops.

This applies, for example, to the procurement of weapon-capable drones and the purchase of new American fighter jets that will replace the aging Tornado fighter jets and will in future be able to carry those tactical nuclear bombs that form the German nuclear stake.

Both decisions had been blocked by the SPD in the last election period.

Lambrecht called on the Union faction to agree to the amendment to the Basic Law that would make the 100 billion program possible, and said that this would make it possible to equip the Bundeswehr “as well as possible”.

The leader of the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Kerstin Vieregge, replied that in order to guarantee this, “a sustainable and permanent increase” in the defense budget was necessary in addition to the special program.