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Defence Minister Boris Pistorius during a visit to the Bundeswehr Camp Castor field camp in Mali
Photograph:
Michael Kappeler / dpa
The Bundeswehr's foreign missions in 2022 have become significantly more expensive than planned. In a paper for the budget committee of the Bundestag, the defense ministry admits that it had to spend 700.813 million euros instead of the planned 9 million euros for missions abroad – for example in Mali, Iraq and South Sudan.
The ministry justifies the higher costs with the effects of the pandemic, price increases, delays in supply chains and capacity bottlenecks at suppliers. In addition, Russia's war against Ukraine and inflation have driven up costs.
Another reason for the additional expenditure is the deterioration of the security situation in Mali, which has made land transport more expensive. Other price drivers are transports to the areas of operation and the operation of the field camps.
The left criticized the additional spending. "The Bundeswehr overruns its costs every year and thus disregards the requirements of the Bundestag," says housekeeper Gesine Lötzsch. She had the impression that the German government had set up "a special role for the Bundeswehr" and was preparing for a kind of war economy.
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