Defense commissioner backs Pistorius
Pistorius' talk of a war-ready army does not meet with universal approval in the SPD. The Federal Armed Forces Commissioner demonstratively confirms the defense minister in his analysis: our freedom is in danger.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius receives support from his own party for his statements on "war readiness" and a socially necessary "change of mentality" in the Bundeswehr. Eva Högl, SPD politician and Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, told the "Tagesspiegel" newspaper: "It is good and right for Boris Pistorius to point out how serious the situation is." The SPD politician continued: "I am talking about defense readiness and defensive democracy. I mean the same thing."
Like Pistorius, Högl also called for a social rethink. "We need to defend our freedom again. This is not just the task of the Bundeswehr, everyone is called upon to do this," she continued to the newspaper: "We can't dump everything on the soldiers with the motto: You'll do it when it gets serious." To this end, the new world situation must be more intensively explained and debated: "There should be more discussion in schools about war and peace as well as the role of the Bundeswehr, even if it is contentious."
According to Defense Commissioner Eva Högl, the troops have "reached an absolute breaking point in this global situation". The Bundeswehr has been challenged like never before in recent years. This applies in particular to the navy and the units operating on NATO's eastern flank. "Artillery battalions are providing material to support Ukraine, which makes their own training more difficult, and are also training the Ukrainian forces," Högl continued: "It's the same with air defense." While the "general shortage of material and personnel" is putting a particular strain on some units, "many others are not fully operational for this reason".
Mützenich keeps his distance
Against this backdrop, personnel recruitment is crucial, said Högl, who referred to a personnel task force in the Ministry of Defense, which is to make appropriate proposals by the end of the year. "Anyone who flirts with the Bundeswehr is gold dust - we must not lose any of them," said the Commissioner for the Armed Forces: "I have far too many cases on my desk where exactly that has happened, due to an unclear approach or reply letters that only arrive when the interested party has already found something else." That's why you have to "invest a lot more energy at the beginning of the process to keep them on board".
Pistorius had previously been criticized within the SPD for his call for "war capability". SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich distanced himself from this at the weekend and said that he would not adopt this choice of words. "Becoming ready for war or capable of war does not do justice to the complexity," Mützenich told the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper. It is more likely to fuel social conflicts.
Rolf Mützenich, the SPD parliamentary group leader, disagreed with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius' use of the term "war capability" and opted for a less confrontational phrase. Regardless, both Mützenich and Defense Commissioner Eva Högl agreed with Pistorius' view that the German Armed Forces, specifically the Bundeswehr, need to undergo a significant change in mentality and prepare for potential threats, as Boris Pistorius' analysis of the situation was publicly backed by Boris Pistorius' own party and Eva Högl.
Source: www.ntv.de
