Germany | 07.09.2006 : Chancellor Unleashes New Defense Spending Debate

In recent years, Germany's army has changed drastically and some say should change more. Created in the Cold War era, the Bundeswehr no longer has to worry about defending its eastern border from a Soviet tank invasion.
Instead, it has become increasingly active in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions around the world. Right now German soldiers are deployed in 11 international missions, from Kosovo to the Democratic Republic of Congo. If Germany sends troops to Lebanon -- currently under debate -- that would make 12.

'Defense budget is not sacrosanct'

On Wednesday, Merkel told the German weekly Die Zeit that it is time for the country to take a new look at the role of the army. "We must ask ourselves, overall, if our military structures are valid for the future," Merkel said.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Merkel inspected some German naval sites last week
She added that she would also consider increasing the military budget, pointing out that Germany spends less on its army than Finland, Norway or Holland, -- and much less than Italy, France, the UK or the US -- in terms of percentage of GNP.

"You cannot say that the planned defense budget for the next 20 years is sacrosanct," Merkel said. "A German government cannot say, 'Please, don't take part in any new conflicts in the next decades, because we can't afford it,'" she added.

An official plan to modernize the Bundeswehr -- to turn it from an unwieldy behemoth created to defend its own borders into a lithe organization ready to take on asymmetric threats around the world -- has been underway for several years. Known in policy circles simply as "the transformation," it is due to be completed by 2010.

'A good signal'

Many agree that German military defense should include diverse international deployments, but they complain that funding for the plan has thus far been inadequate.

"Unexpected deployments need to be additionally financed," said Bernhard Gertz, chief of a lobbying group called the German Federal Armed Forces Association (DBwV). "The defense minister can't be expected to finance it out of thin air. That just isn't serious, or professional."