A prominent German politician has issued a scathing assessment of her country’s drive to boost its military following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, claiming any upgrade of its army would take half a century to complete if it continues at its current pace.
After a 107-page annual report on the state of the Bundeswehr was submitted to parliament on Tuesday, Parliamentary Commissioner for the armed forces, Eva Högl, also claimed “not a single euro” of a €100bn fund approved by MPs had been spent.
“I’ll start with the topic of material and summarise it in one sentence: the Bundeswehr has too little of everything and has had even less since February 24th, 2022. That applies to training, that applies to exercises and that also applies to equipment on the ground,” Eva Högl revealed.
Last year, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz received a standing ovation in parliament when he announced the end of Germany’s pacifist tradition. The new policy included a commitment to NATO’s spending target of 2% of GDP for defence, as well as the new special military fund.
Högl also cast doubt over whether a goal of recruiting 203,000 soldiers by 2031 would be achieved.
Her criticism joins a chorus of lawmakers and officials who have called for faster supplies and funding for the military.
Despite the lack of spending on its own forces, Germany has sent large amounts of military aid to Ukraine over the past year – and recently promised to send its highly sought-after Leopard 2 tanks.