By Orkhan Sattarov, the head of the European Bureau of Vestnik Kavkaza
The catastrophic political and economic situation Germany was in after the end of WWII and the shame for crimes committed by the national socialist regime had their deep impact on the collective conscience of German people. After the bitter experience of two world wars in the 20th century, the explicit anti-militant mood in the German society became an important factor the country needs to consider when forming its policy. Even the "anti-Americanism" peculiar to Germany is partly the result of aggressive U.S. foreign policy in the world arena, rejected by German society.
In the light of the Ukrainian issue and publications about Russian military threats to Europe in Western mass media, the German political establishment started certain moves towards greater militarization and activation of hardliners in relations with Russia. The war in the east of Ukraine provoked many German discussions about a sense of illusion in Europe.
It is noteworthy that the fears of hypothetical military aggression from Russia are cultivated in the Baltic states or Poland, where Russia had been demonized long before the start of the Ukrainian crisis. After the NATO summit in Wales, some German conservatives demanded more finances for the Bundeswehr. CDU member Karl-Georg Wellman said that Europe wanted good relations with Russia but a new threat required a reaction from NATO.
Henning Otte, a member of the parliamentary defense committee, said that security had become less stable after the Crimean crisis. He called for adjustments of the defense system to the new threats.
The armies of most European countries have been suffering from lack of financing for many years. The military campaign of NATO in Libya demonstrated that no one, apart from the British and French, could fight in Europe. In 2006, the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance agreed to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense. According to Spiegel, even Germany spends only 1.3% of its GDP on military development.
The CDU speaker on security, Florian Hahn, believes that the time of dividends Germany had in peacetime are over. The German politician demands an increase of investments in the Bundeswehr from 6 billion to 7 billion euros. And Hahn admitted that even the 6 billion euro sum was not fully spent, so information about 1.3% of the GDP allocated to military needs seems like a fact. Hahn added that only 50 out of 250 tanks in the country were ready for deployment.
His CDU colleague Henning Otte disagrees with assumptions that Germany would not need tanks and heavy weapons. He believes that military vehicles should be updated a lot faster than has been done so far. Otte acknowledges that it would require money. The CSU plans to make a detailed and scrupulous analysis of the situation in the German army this autumn.
Socialists and financiers among the conservatives understand that rising defense expenses would not be understood in German society. The crisis in Ukraine and European sanctions against Russia have already been a blow to the German budget. Minister for Finances Wolfgang Schauble promised not to cut defense expenditure, but he has said nothing about increasing them. CDU member Norbert Barthle, responsible for budget affairs, expressed skepticism. Socialist Hans-Peter Bartels, the head of the Bundestag defense committee, said that the government should spend money on the army more efficiently instead of asking for more.
