Finance Minister Christian Lindner wants to increase defense spending

Berlin Christian Lindner (FDP) had to have difficult talks in the past few days. The Federal Finance Minister met his cabinet colleagues to talk them out of exaggerated spending requests in the final budget talks – with one exception: Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) was largely spared from austerity appeals.

The war in Ukraine has given the German government new priorities: Defense spending will increase in the coming years, and there is broad agreement on this in the traffic light coalition. “Declining defense spending is no longer appropriate,” said Lindner on a talk show on Thursday. It is clear “that the funds for the Bundeswehr must be increased”.

The fact that the treasurer publicly advertises additional spending during budget negotiations makes the new situation clear. At the end of January, Lindner’s Secretary of State for the Budget, Werner Gatzer, sent his colleague in the Defense Ministry, Margaretha Sudhof, a four-page letter in which he complained about excessive spending. The message was that there would not be more money than previously provided for in the draft budget.