Criticism of Pistorius: Bundeswehr should not be ready for war
CSU leader Markus Söder has sharply criticized Federal Defence Minister Boris Pistorius' (SPD) call for a war-ready Bundeswehr. "We think it's really good that the Bundeswehr is finally being strengthened. But we expressly do not share the Federal Government's goal of being ready and able to go to war," said the Bavarian Minister President after a meeting of the CSU Executive Committee in Munich.
Germany, or rather the Bundeswehr, should be ready for defense, but not ready for war. "We think it's a really unfortunate metaphor and also an unfortunate objective - Germany doesn't want to wage war, Germany wants to be able to defend itself and wants to be ready to defend itself, but not war-minded," Söder emphasized.
"War is ugly"
On Sunday evening, Pistorius had shown understanding for criticism of his formulation that the Bundeswehr must become capable of war - but at the same time he had not backed away from it. "I understand if you don't like the term. It's an ugly word for an ugly thing. War is ugly," said the SPD politician on the ARD program "Bericht aus Berlin". "But if we want to prevent it, we have to say to a potential aggressor: we are capable of defending ourselves." This requires a change in mentality in Germany, including in society.
In new defense policy guidelines, which Pistorius presented last Thursday at the Bundeswehr conference in Berlin, "war capability is described as a maxim for action". Pistorius and Inspector General Carsten Breuer write in the document: "We must be the backbone of deterrence and collective defense in Europe. Our population, but also our partners in Europe, North America and the world, expect us to face up to this responsibility."
Left-wing SPD member of parliament Ralf Stegner, among others, had criticized Pistorius for the statement. The chairman of the Bundestag's European Affairs Committee, Anton Hofreiter (Greens), also distanced himself from the choice of words.
The German Armed Forces, as represented by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD), has been advocating for a war-ready Bundeswehr, a stance that has been met with criticism from the CSU leader Markus Söder. Söder maintains that while strengthening the Bundeswehr is necessary, Germany should not aim to be war-ready, but rather defense-oriented.
During a TV appearance, Pistorius acknowledged the criticism of his war-ready stance, emphasizing that war is indeed a grim and unpleasant concept. However, he argued that the ability to defend oneself is crucial in deterring potential aggressors.
Following Pistorius's defense policy guidelines, which prioritize war capability as a central objective, left-wing SPD member Ralf Stegner and Green Party's Anton Hofreiter (chairman of the Bundestag's European Affairs Committee) have voiced their disapproval of the terminology used.
Source: www.dpa.com
