Speaking at a meeting of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Parliamentary Group, German Defence Minister, Mr. Pistorius, said that Germany’s Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) would be unable to defend the country or its allies against an attacker such as the Russian military, stressing that they have to adapt to this situation.

As reported by Bild, even senior military officials said they had never heard such a blunt statement from a Defence Minister, pointing out that previous leaderships tried to hide the hopeless state of the military.

For example, the predecessor of Mr. Pistorius, Christine Lambrecht, even tried to hide from the Federal Parliament the reports on the readiness of the Armed Forces regarding military material, whereas when Ursula von der Leyen took office corresponding reports were classified and the MPs could only read the data in a special chamber of the Bundestag.

At the meeting of the parliamentary group of the SPD, Mr. Pistorius also said that Germany must fulfill its alliance obligations.

The Bundeswehr urgently needs weapons, heavy equipment, ammunition, but also soldiers, he said, and his stance was praised not only by his party’s MPs, but also by the opposition.

Christian Democratic Party (CDU) foreign policy chief, Norbert Röttgen, told Bild that what Pistorius says is the bitter truth and it is courageous that the Minister of Defence does not sugarcoat it, but expresses it openly. He also describes his duty in this way, that is, to change things, and to receive the political support of his party for this.

The reaction of the head of the Bundeswehr Association, Andre Wuestner, was also positive, who also told BILD that it is impressive how honestly and truthfully the Minister of Defence describes the situation in the Bundeswehr. The military has not experienced such clarity in many years, but it is also clear that the federal government must act now, as the situation cannot remain unaltered.

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