A German Defense Official Urges Faster Military Modernization
The German Bundestag’s Defense Commissioner, Henning Otte, has called for a faster pace of military modernization. In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag, Otte criticized the slow implementation of the country’s defense plans, stating that decisions were made too late and the numbers of military equipment were too low.
Otte emphasized that the opportunities provided by a constitutional amendment, which allows for the separation of defense spending from the federal budget’s debt ceiling, must be utilized quickly. He warned that the funds must not be used only for show, but should be used to provide the necessary material equipment for the soldiers to successfully fulfill their duties.
The official stressed that the money should not be spent carelessly, but rather used to build military capabilities in a systematic way, in order to efficiently utilize the defense budget. He also highlighted the need for all officials, particularly the new Secretary of State for Defense, Jens Plötner, to work better and faster to organize the defense procurement process in a more targeted manner.
Regarding the new military service, Otte urged the government to present a draft law with a mandatory component as soon as possible, so that it can be passed by the end of the year. While the coalition agreement initially calls for a voluntary military service, Otte believes that if this approach does not work, the government must expand the mandatory elements. He will closely follow the development of the new military service and will bring the issue up again in the future.
The German military, according to Otte, urgently needs personnel reinforcement due to its heavy workload. He criticized the previous goal of increasing the number of soldiers from around 182,000 to 203,000, stating that this goal was clearly missed. The Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, has now announced an additional need for 60,000 soldiers, which Otte considers an enormous challenge for the minister to overcome.
Otte also held the German parliament accountable, suggesting that it would be beneficial for the entire political debate if the parliamentarians were more closely involved in the procurement of military equipment, with the possibility of having a higher budget line for this purpose.