Germany: Military spending sparks disagreements between the Chancellor and his defense minister

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is trying to convince the world that his country is serious about becoming a military force again, but he still needs to work on convincing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is more inclined to make peace, which indicates a growing gap between the two men.

Students at the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington listened to Pistorius talk about Germany’s military renaissance last month.

The 64-year-old defense minister outlined the extent of German support for Ukraine and listed tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, howitzers and air defense systems used against Russia.

Americans haven’t heard such phrases from a German politician in a long time.

In the decades following World War II, leaders in West Germany, and then in a reunified Germany after 1990, avoided such military language and relied on the protection of the United States and its NATO allies.

Pistorius’ tumultuous rhetoric creates tension with Scholz and points to potential problems ahead as the beleaguered government approaches elections next year.

The roots of the conflict go back to unresolved issues, which arose from the historic turning point declared by Scholz in 2022, in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Chancellor Scholz, (65), vowed to revive the German army to counter the threat posed by Russia, however, while Berlin has become Ukraine’s second-largest arms donor, rearmament plans are governed by familiar disputes over spending and concerns about the deployment of military force.

Germany agreed to change its constitution to allow for the creation of a 100 billion Euro ($109 billion) special defense fund.

Pistorius has so far failed to secure an additional 6.7 billion Euros a year to secure orders for fighter jets and naval frigates that he says are needed to defend against a possible Russian attack.

The chasm between Chancellor Scholz and his defense minister has become increasingly clear in recent weeks, especially as the German chancellor rejected Pistorius’ plea for an additional budget to increase defense spending.

The German chancellor ignored Pistorius’ proposal to reinstate conscription, which was scrapped by former Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011.

During a closed-door meeting at the ministry last month, Pistorius threatened to resign due to budget constraints.

Asked about reports of his anger, he told reporters, “I still miss this job, and you won’t get rid of me so quickly”.

Rolf Mützenich, leader of the Social Democrats bloc, recently told the Bundestag that politicians should discuss freezing the war with Russia, an idea often promoted by Kremlin sympathizers.

Pistorius’ views, however, resonated with the German public.

The defense minister is regularly ranked as Germany’s most popular politician, while Scholz has at times seen the worst approval ratings for any leader since the founding of the federal republic 75 years ago.

Opinion polls suggest that if general elections were held next year now, Sholz’s Social Democrats would suffer a heavy defeat to the center-right opposition.

Scholz insists he is determined to run again for chancellorship, and his deputies point to a slight rise in his popularity in 2021 as evidence that he can still change things.

The next chancellor will depend on the outcome of next weekend’s EU elections and three regional elections in eastern Germany in September, adding that Scholz’s Social Democrats are on par with the far-right Alternative for (AfD), both of which are capable of winning 14% of the vote, according to a poll conducted by ZDF on May 30.

If these elections end in the defeat of the SPD, the party leadership may begin to consider whether the defense minister would be a better candidate to lead them in next year’s general election.

According to German journalist Sudha David Welp, “if tensions within Scholz’s coalition lead to early elections, the SPD may be inclined to swap Scholz for Pistorius, but it will be difficult to do so”.

This is an idea that Pistorius himself began to hear publicly; After the session in Washington, a student asked the defense minister how different Germany would look if he were the chancellor instead of Scholz.

Pistorius paused, put his hand to his ear, and said with a grandiose smile, “I didn’t understand the last part of your question”.

But Pistorius often expresses his loyalty to Scholz, saying last month, “We’ve an excellent adviser and he will be our candidate for chancellor again… This discussion is really unnecessary… We don’t need them now… There is no doubt about that within the Social Democrats”.