BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The additional investments in civil protection planned under the impression of the pandemic, flood and war in Ukraine have met with great approval in the Bundestag. According to the ideas of the traffic light coalition, the money is to be used, among other things, for new logistics centers and all-terrain vehicles for the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) and the new training center for the Federal Academy for Civil Protection and Civil Defense in Stralsund. The flood disaster in the Ahr Valley in 2021 showed: “The lack of warning systems costs lives,” said Jamila Schäfer (Greens), on Thursday during the final deliberations on the budget of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
The Union called for a further increase in funds for civil protection. André Hahn (left) said with a view to the so-called special assets for the armed forces amounting to 100 billion euros, it would be good “if at least a fraction of these funds were made available for civil protection and disaster control”. Most of the speakers also agreed on another point: Germany has some catching up to do when it comes to protection against cyber attacks.
The internal budget for 2022 provides for expenditure of around 15 billion euros. This is an increase of around 889 million euros compared to the draft of the previous government.
In addition to fighting right-wing extremism, the fight against organized crime is also one of their priorities, said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD). This is also reflected in the planned increase in jobs at the Federal Criminal Police Office.
The minister responded to verbal attacks by the Union faction’s spokesman for domestic affairs, Alexander Throm, by shaking her head. He warned that Federal Ministry of the Interior is not a “campaign headquarters” and too important to be managed by a “part-time minister on call”. He was referring to a statement by Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD), who said with regard to the state elections in Hesse in autumn 2023: “I’m counting on Nancy Faeser not only becoming the top candidate, but also the first woman Prime Minister in Hesse. ” Since then, Faeser has repeatedly emphasized: “I am Home Secretary with full force.”
The AfD called for money to be saved by canceling integration courses for asylum seekers with little prospect of protection status./abc/DP/mis