You may recall that I have expressed skepticism about German pledges for additional defense spending. The editors of the Wall Street Journal note that such skepticism is warranted:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised two months ago to deliver a substantial increase in defense spending. Where is that money now? Funny you should ask, since Mr. Scholz’s waffling on his signature pledge is a growing controversy in Berlin.
The “turning point†speech Mr. Scholz delivered on Feb. 27 included two promises: increase the annual military budget to at least 2% of GDP, in line with North Atlantic Treaty Organization targets, and create a one-time €100 billion ($105 billion) special fund for procurement. Crucially, the procurement fund would be exempt from the constitutional limit on government debt, although the regular military budget wouldn’t be.
The great danger was, and remains, that the pacifist wings of all three parties in the coalition government—Mr. Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP)—would water down this commitment by wasting money on non-defense projects such as renewable energy or foreign aid. The best news of the past two months is that Berlin is so far resisting this temptation.
The government said in mid-March it will use the special fund to buy 35 F-35 jets from the U.S. to replace obsolete fighters and fulfill German obligations under NATO’s nuclear-sharing arrangement. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has emphasized the need for disciplined investment in capabilities.
Yet Mr. Scholz is struggling to say what he meant by his twin promises. His February speech neglected to specify whether he meant he’d spend 2% of GDP plus €100 billion, or whether he’d spend 2% of GDP including the €100 billion. The distinction matters.
Hitting the 2% goal would mean annual defense spending of some €75 billion in the next fiscal year, but Mr. Scholz’s government has submitted a budget accounting for only €50 billion, roughly the same amount as before the “turning point.†The plan seems to be to top up annual spending by including one-quarter of the special procurement budget.
Are the Germans “hedging” like India, Mexico, and Brazil?
The Germans are starting to piss me off. Their refusal to pay their way is duplicitous. Their green idiocy and reliance on Russia is, well, idiocy. The only thing I can do would be avoid their imports, meaning my 20 year love affair with their obviously superior cars.
I’m in the market for a new toy car. So the only real option is the new Corvette ZO6. Its right there with a 911 or M5. Germany is daring people to vote with their wallets right now.
My experience of Germans is that they are far from idiots but they are very rigid and inclined to think in absolutes. Additionally, they have some difficulty in tolerating or even understanding people who aren’t as rigid as they are.
That’s among the reasons I am predisposed to think that a lot of these statements are just press releases they have no intention of following through on. If the cnancellor could deliver on what he’s promised, it would already have been done.
Idiocy is just slang for following a policy so detrimental to their self interests. And now they are very mispositioned.
Irresponsible might be a softer description. In any event , their policy preferences have international implications.
As to the Germans, do we really want to see a fully modernized, big Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, and Kriegsmarine, complete with aircraft carriers, SSBN’s, Panzer divisions, and nukes?
Anyway, the Ukrainians have all the leftover Nazis and Nazi regalia, so it wouldn’t be the same.