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Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck: “Many people are turning away, the glue of society is becoming porous”
Photo: Chris Emil Janssen / Chris Emil Janßen / IMAGO
Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has called on the government coalition to moderate the dispute over how to deal with Ukraine. "If we now argue about how we help and whether we deliver the Taurus cruise missile, Putin can sit back," warned Habeck in an interview with the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung" (FAS). That would be “the stupidest thing we could do,” emphasized Habeck.
In the traffic light coalition there is a main dispute over possible Taurus deliveries: While Green and FDP politicians are calling for this, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is against it. The statement by SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich about freezing the war in Ukraine also triggered criticism from the other two coalition partners. »We shouldn't suspect each other of endangering the peace. The one who endangers peace is Putin,” said Habeck. »The dead of this war are Putin's dead. Nobody should capitalize on the situation, and we shouldn't presume to want to capitalize either."
Support for Ukraine
The Green politician campaigned for support for Ukraine. You do it out of your own interest, said Habeck. »Putin not only wants to occupy Ukraine for his imperialist Great Russian Empire, but also wants to destabilize liberal democracy beyond Ukraine. If Putin isn’t stopped, he won’t stop.”
Habeck called for investments in increasing production capacities for ammunition. "In order to produce very large quantities, purchase guarantees for ten years would have had to be given right from the start, which would then also be included in public financial planning." That didn't happen.
Securing social peace
In order to achieve a necessary increase in defense spending, social spending must not be cut, warned Habeck. “I would find the idea that we are dismantling the welfare state because we need more money for the military fatal,” he said. “We are not just in a phase of external threat,” emphasized Habeck. Democracy is also under pressure. "Many people are turning away, the glue of society is becoming porous," said Habeck. That's why social spending is necessary to hold the country together. However, individual points could be discussed, such as incentives for longer working hours in old age.
The Green politician is also reacting to his cabinet colleague, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). He recently spoke out in favor of comprehensive social reforms in order to free up money for future tasks such as defense.
boy/AFP/dpa