The new security policy situation in Europe will cause follow-up costs for Germany beyond the announced Bundeswehr investments. This becomes clear in the Bundestag debate on the budget for the Ministry of the Interior.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wants more money for civil protection and internal security in view of new threats.
“Russia’s attack on Ukraine is a turning point,” said Faeser on Thursday in the Bundestag debate on her ministry’s budget for 2022. “It will also entail additional financial burdens that are not yet taken into account in this budget.” The SPD politician and several members of the SPD parliamentary group named expenditure on integration, civil protection and cyber security as examples. Faeser emphasized: “We have ramped up all protective measures against Russian attacks.”
The 2022 budget provides for a budget of almost 15 billion euros for the Federal Ministry of the Interior. That means “1660 more jobs for security, integration and cohesion,” said Faeser. A direct comparison with the previous year’s expenditure is not possible, as the department responsible for construction and housing has since been dissolved and transferred to an independent ministry.
Support for strengthening the role of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) came from members of several parliamentary groups. The Bonn authority is geared towards protecting the population in times of tension and defence. In addition, the BBK can support the countries responsible for civil protection in peacetime. The fact that there are no longer any sirens in some countries is the result of the “ruthless austerity policy of neoliberalism,” said Victor Perli (left).
Germany needs to be better prepared for power outages lasting several days and similar scenarios, demanded the domestic spokeswoman for the Greens, Lamya Kaddor. “We have to act before something like this happens.”
“You have to stop this chaos immediately”
Manuel Höferlin (FPD) said that the Union, which had provided the Federal Minister of the Interior for 16 years, was responsible for the “failures in civil and population protection”. “You couldn’t get it on your chain,” said the SPD parliamentary group’s domestic policy spokesman, Sebastian Hartmann, to the CDU and CSU MPs.
The deputy leader of the Union faction, Andrea Lindholz (CSU), accused Faeser of weak leadership in coordinating the distribution of the Ukraine refugees. In the municipalities it is often not known when buses with war refugees are to be expected. Announced buses sometimes don’t come, leading to great frustration among volunteers. “You have to stop this chaos immediately,” said Lindholz.
The AfD warned that there was a risk that unauthorized “free riders” would mix with the refugees from Ukraine, for whom a simplified admission procedure applies.
Source: Stern
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