Germany has become “more resilient”, above all due to the multi-billion dollar special fund for the Bundeswehr, said Scholz. He promised an increase in defense spending to two percent of gross domestic product. “And that promise stands.”
Scholz: Bundeswehr performs “masterly”
Together with Defense Minister Bors Pistorius (SPD), he is talking about “a real change of lane” in the procurement of material for the Bundeswehr. According to Scholz, the Bundeswehr is also doing a “master job” in training more than 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
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The Chancellor also listed the many weapons that Germany and its allies are supplying to Ukraine. He went through branch by branch of arms, and in all of those that Scholz listed, one country is always involved: Germany.
But the chancellor also tried to calm his critics. He understands the concerns of the citizens. “I assure you, the government I lead never takes decisions about arms shipments lightly.”
On the other hand, the Chancellor cannot understand calls for quick peace negotiations with Russia. At the weekend, at a rally organized by left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht and women’s rights activist Alice Schwarzer, demonstrators pushed for speedy peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
A “peace agreement over the heads of the Ukrainians” should not be allowed. “You can’t negotiate with a gun on your temple – except for your own submission,” said Scholz.
“A dictated peace against the will of the victims” is also out of the question because of Germany’s own security interests. “What fatal encouragement it would be for the aggressor if the breach of international law and the European peace order were rewarded,” said the Chancellor.
Scholz therefore also urgently contacted China. It is good that China has spoken out against the use of nuclear weapons. But that’s not enough. “Do not deliver weapons to the aggressor Russia,” said Scholz. Rather, Beijing must use its influence on Moscow “to urge the withdrawal of Russian troops.”
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In his counter-speech, opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) initially took on the AfD and the Left Party, some of which had taken part in the demonstration organized by Wagenknecht and Schwarzer.
“Cynical, inhuman, shameful”
Deliberately confusing victims and perpetrators is “cynical, inhuman, vile and shameful for the whole country,” said Merz. “If Russia silences the guns today, the war will be over tomorrow. If Ukraine keeps the guns silent, then tomorrow the Ukrainian people and Ukraine as a state will be finished. That is the difference.”
Only then did Merz turn to the Chancellor. “They fall far short of the self-imposed claims of the turning point. That has to get better in the coming weeks and months, otherwise the turning point will not succeed,” said Merz.
>> Read here: A year after the historic speech: Scholz must dare to turn around
The regular defense budget has not increased, but decreased. Only 600 million of the 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr have been spent.
According to Merz, security in Europe will no longer have to be organized with Russia for “years, if not decades”, but against it. “And for that, Mr. Chancellor, decisions have to be made and not just government statements made.”
The CDU boss also criticized Scholz’s hesitancy on the subject of arms deliveries. “Without US help, Ukraine would have been in Russian hands long ago.” The Europeans alone could not and are “not willing enough to help Ukraine.”
In his speech, Merz criticized, among other things, the constant quarrels of the traffic light coalition.
(Photo: dpa)
Merz drew on the statements made by US President Joe Biden’s security adviser Jake Sullivan a few days ago. Sullivan had explained that the US only sent Abrams tanks to Ukraine because Scholz would otherwise not have delivered Leopard tanks.
Merz criticizes the “deeply divided coalition”
According to Merz, Sullivan obviously wanted to send two messages shortly before Scholz’s visit to Biden this Friday. “The first: He wants to tell us clearly that not Abrams, but the Leopard tanks make sense. And the second: the Germans won’t do that to us a second time.”
Merz also called on the Chancellor to take stronger action against China. Like Nord Stream 2 before it, the Chinese Silk Road project is a project to enforce the geostrategic interests of an autocratic regime.
A core problem, however, is that Scholz chairs a “deeply divided coalition”, said Merz. Whenever the government comes up with an idea, the FDP general secretary explains shortly afterwards in front of the microphones why none of this works.
On the government bench, this leads to a brief moment of amusement, at least for FDP leader Christian Lindner. Scholz, on the other hand, doesn’t change a face.
More: A year after the chancellor’s speech about turning the corner – the Bundeswehr is in even worse shape