defense
Wadephul calls for more speed in equipping the Bundeswehr
Union parliamentary group vice-president Johann Wadephul believes the introduction of compulsory service in the Bundeswehr is essential. photo
© Henning Kaiser/dpa
The Union sees the Bundeswehr as far from being ready for defense. For the material given to Ukraine, too little and too slowly is being made. Conclusion: The turning point is not currently taking place.
Union parliamentary group vice-president Johann Wadephul (CDU) has significantly increased speed when it comes to equipping the Bundeswehr and the replacement of the military material handed over to Ukraine. The correct and sensible delivery of ammunition to Ukraine has “now developed into a difficult shortage in the Bundeswehr,” said the foreign and defense politician at the German Press Agency in Berlin.
“Decisive units can last a maximum of two days in a battle. And that is an overall catastrophic finding,” said Wadephul. “Anyone who even talks about war capability but at least expects the Bundeswehr to be prepared to defend itself should have ensured that such a bad situation did not occur. But unfortunately the opposite is the case.”
Building up the Bundeswehr is progressing slowly
The development of the Bundeswehr into a defense-capable force is making little progress, criticized Wadephul. “It got stuck in the early days and the faltering is of course now Boris Pistorius’s responsibility. I see big announcements but few actual measures that contribute to the war capability that the Defense Minister himself has sworn to,” he said and stated: “The turning point is currently not taking place for the Bundeswehr.”
There are orders, but almost nothing has been received by the Bundeswehr so far. “Even when it comes to purchasing replacements, the Bundeswehr actually makes a loss. No matter how correct the contributions to Ukraine are when it comes to material and ammunition, it is unacceptable in the current security policy situation that there is no compensation.” With Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine it became clear: “We need many times what we had.”
Wadephul emphasized support for military aid to Ukraine. “She is fighting our European fight for freedom and that is all right and necessary. What is missing is that we now flip the switch and realize a turning point.” He sees a Bundeswehr that continues basic operations as it has for 20 years and has the structures of an “Afghanistan Army” that specializes in international operations. “I see a Bundeswehr that still carries out its procurement processes just as carefully, cautiously and sometimes – I think – fearfully as it has in the last 20 years,” he said.
Doubts about the planned NATO division
The Union man also expressed doubts as to whether Germany would be able to provide NATO with the fully combat-ready so-called Division 2025 in two years, as promised. He said: “It will again be a division – as with previous registrations with NATO – that will be cobbled together and cobbled together from across the Bundeswehr. It will not be equipped with the weapon systems that we have for the Bundeswehr in the middle of the 1920s. And, above all, it will be under-equipped in terms of personnel and ammunition stocks.”
He called on the federal government to set priorities after the Karlsruhe budget ruling. This must include external security. “Anything else would be forgetting the future, given the situation in Ukraine and, incidentally, in the Middle East and, not least, in North Africa.”
Wadephul: “The minister surprisingly did not implement his correct demand of ten billion more for the Bundeswehr in individual plan 14, even though he had excellent poll numbers and was able to justify the figure exactly. And that was a serious political mistake that is now having a double impact , because of course the scope for budget planning in the next few years will become even narrower.”
Introduction of compulsory service is essential
The Union parliamentary group vice-president also believes that the introduction of compulsory service in the Bundeswehr, disaster control and emergency services is essential. “We will not be able to ensure effective national defense without the necessary personnel,” he said. The debate must now become concrete and also clarify how a service can be made attractive. “This has to pay off in retirement and when using public facilities.”
Compulsory military service was suspended in July 2011 after 55 years under the then Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU), which in practice amounted to an abolition of military and community service. Recently, more and more doubts have arisen as to whether the Bundeswehr can achieve its stated goal of 203,000 men and women in uniform by 2031.