BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – According to FDP leader and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the Russian attack on Ukraine must have far-reaching consequences for German security policy. According to information from the German Press Agency, Lindner said at a meeting of the FDP parliamentary group on Sunday morning that the marginal issue of the past few years would become a central project in the coming years. Participants reported that he was expecting “a Zsur” in German security policy.
The Federal Finance Minister said the time of self-righteous dreams and a peace dividend in public budgets is over. The reaction to the war in Ukraine will shape German politics and its priorities for years to come.
The armed forces had been neglected for at least ten years. That will now have to be corrected within a short time. Lindner spoke of a “reboot” (restart) of the Bundeswehr. No one expected a traffic light coalition to achieve the largest and fastest increases in armaments and military spending in the recent history of the Federal Republic. But that is exactly what will and must happen, according to Lindner at the meeting./cn/DP/stk