In an interview with the Partnerzeitungen of the Neue Berliner Redaktionsgesellschaft, Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Sahra Wagenknecht, the chairwoman of the Left, expressed her views on the German military, the Bundeswehr. According to Wagenknecht, the Bundeswehr should be equipped to defend the country, but not to wage war. “We need to equip the Bundeswehr in a way that it can defend our country” she said, emphasizing that “defensive capability means being prepared to withstand an attack and we are that.”
Wagenknecht emphasized the importance of defense, stating that Germany should be prepared to defend itself against anyone who would attack it. However, she also stressed the need to move away from a military buildup and towards a era of disarmament and trust-building measures, particularly in the age of atomic weapons, where a war between nuclear powers would be catastrophic.
In her critique of the Bundeswehr’s budget, Wagenknecht accused the military of being mismanaged, with a significant portion of the budget being wasted on unnecessary expenses. She attributed this to the influence of the arms industry, saying that “the power of the arms industry is enormous.” Citing studies, she claimed that nearly a quarter of the military budget is spent on unnecessary expenses, with prices for military equipment often increasing fourfold or more during the procurement process.