BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) urges the SPD to take a quick decision on arming Bundeswehr drones. In the budget debate in the Bundestag on Wednesday, she confirmed that, in her view, the persistence of this equipment gap would endanger soldiers. “We are negligently jeopardizing the lives of soldiers and I want to change that.”
SPD leader Norbert Walter-Borjans had previously called for further advice on arming the new Heron TP-type Bundeswehr drones. “Together with large parts of the SPD membership and many other groups in our society engaged in peace policy, I do not consider the current debate about armed Bundeswehr drones to be sufficient,” he told the “Sddeutsche Zeitung” (Tuesday). The FDP and the Grne had already rejected this as inaccurate and asked the SPD to decide now for or against arming.
Kramp-Karrenbauer also sees no need for further discussion. There are many arguments that have to be dealt with seriously, said the CDU leader on Wednesday in the budget debate in the Bundestag. “But one argument does not count and that is the argument that we have not debated it sufficiently here. We have been debating drones for eight years.”
Proponents of armed drones always argue with the protection of soldiers. Above all, critics argue that the inhibition threshold for the use of military force could decrease because drones are controlled remotely and no soldiers are endangered when they are deployed./mfi/DP/nas