Sarah Wagenkneht, a co-chairman of the Left Party faction in the Bundestag, criticized the sharp increase in Germany's military spending because, according to her, the money is spent not on the protection of the national security, but rather on military missions abroad.
German politician Sarah Wagenknecht slammed the German defense minister's decision to spend billions of euro on the German army.
“The Bundeswehr has a constitutional mission: national defense. It has to be well-equipped for that. If von der Leyen demands an additional 12 billion euro, it is not about national defense, but about foreign missions. But German security is not defended in the Hindu Kush or in Iraq; on the contrary, it is put at risk if we participate in oil and gas wars violating international law,” Wagenkneht told Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.
The largest detachments of German troops operate in Afghanistan, Mali, Syria and Northern Iraq.
About 1,200 German armed forces personnel are also deployed in Turkey, where the German Air Force has been operating since 2015, providing support for the US-led anti-Daesh coalition.
German Military Might Grows as Berlin Prepares to Pick Up the Slack for the US
Closer to Russia's borders, the German Air Force is deployed on a rotating basis in Estonia, with a battalion of NATO forces, including up to 700 German troops, expected to be deployed in Lithuania later this year.
In addition to these deployments, the…
