Germany’s defense fund is not enough, the sending of fighter jets is ‘reluctant’: defense minister
BERLIN, 27 january (Reuters) – Germany’s 100 billion euro (108 billion dollars) private defense fund is no longer sufficient to cover its needs, new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper on Friday.
Pistorius, who took office after the resignation of his predecessor last week, also reduced Germany’s annual regular defense costs to the current 50 billion said that it will have to increase from the level of the euro.
New defense chief Germany also agreed to send 14 Leopard tanks to Ukraine to fend off a Russian invasion, Germany said. military should increase technical resources.
Germany in 2011 mandatory military that the decision to suspend the service was a mistake, he added that he was hesitant to put the burden on the younger generations, but was willing to discuss a new model to strengthen the relationship between citizens and the state.
Asked whether Germany would send fighter jets to Ukraine, a further request from Kiev after Germany confirmed the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks earlier this week, Pistorius said it was an “exception”.
“Fighter aircraft are more complex systems than main battle tanks and have a completely different range and firepower,” Pistorius said in an interview. At the moment, we would enter the dimensions that I would warn about,” he said.
($1 = 0.9223 euros)
Written by Matthias Williams, Victoria Waldersee, edited by Rachel More, William Maclean
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2023-01-27 21:28:32
Source – reuters
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