The proposed increase of The defense spending laid out in Germany's draft budget for 2025 is far from enough to "respond to the current security situation" nor to "Germany's responsibility to the world", the head of the Association of the German Armed Forces has said , reported DPA, quoted by BTA.
Andre Wuestner, chairman of the organization which represents the interests of around 200,000 active soldiers, reservists and former members of the army, told dpa: "The German government may want to go through this legislative period with this budget, but The Bundeswehr as an essential part of our security architecture - and therefore all of us - is paying the price."
Under the terms of the preliminary national budget for 2025 agreed on Friday, German military spending will increase by just 1.2 billion euros, far below the roughly 7 billion euros requested by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
Leaders of Germany's coalition government achieved a breakthrough on the national budget after weeks of tough negotiations that ended with consultations through the night on Thursday.
After Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) refused to release the country's debt brake on government spending and Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SDP) ruled out cutting welfare spending, Germany's armed forces they seem to have lost, just two years after Scholz announced a historic rearmament program.
Wustner described the security situation in Europe as "the most dangerous since the fall of the Iron Curtain,", pointing to political instability and the lack of certainty about Washington's commitment to European security should November's presidential election lead to to a second Donald Trump presidency.
Wustner called on parliament to make "large-scale adjustments" in the draft budget.
He said additional funds were needed to cover the "dramatic increase in operating costs".
Also, without further investment in the defense industry, the recently begun capacity expansion will quickly begin to falter again, Wuestner said.