German finance minister rejects additional funds for military modernization

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner has warned Defense Minister Boris Pistorius that no additional funds will be provided to modernize the armed forces beyond what has already been agreed upon by the coalition government, News.Az reports citing Reuters.

The recent budget, which was finalized this month, left Pistorius disappointed. He is tasked with reversing years of neglect and strengthening Germany's defenses in response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.

But the Social Democrat minister's complaints were unjustified, Lindner said in an interview to be aired on ARD public television on Sunday.

"Mr Pistorius has a 100 billion euro ($108.6 billion) special fund for modernising the armed forces; something none of his predecessors had," Lindner said. "You can work with that, but you also have to make do with it."
Lindner, leader of the liberal Free Democrats, sees his role in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's fractious three-party coalition as enforcing fiscal rigour against the protests of the Social Democrats and Greens.

Germany has by far the lowest debt to GDP ratio in the G7 group of large advanced economies, but the International Monetary Fund this week said that low levels of public infrastructure investment were among the main causes of Germany's sluggish growth.

News.Az