Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
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Berlin (German news agency) – Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) has admitted that, contrary to what was agreed in the coalition agreement, spending on development cooperation will not keep pace with spending on defense. “That was agreed before the war against Ukraine and before it became clear to everyone how urgent massive investments in the Bundeswehr are for our security,” she told the partner newspapers of the “Neue Berliner Redaktionsgesellschaft” and the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten” (Saturday editions).
In the current budget dispute, Schulze warned Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) against cutting funds for her house: “I will continue to fight for more money. One thing must not happen to us, namely that our commitment to Ukraine, that is to a large extent attributed to development cooperation is at the expense of the Global South.” That’s exactly what they fear there, says Schulze. “And that’s exactly what Russia keeps spreading to sow distrust in the West.”
The development minister said in this context that security must be considered comprehensively. “I’m sure that the entire coalition has come to realize that security cannot only be guaranteed militarily, but that we have to focus on development as prevention. We know: Every euro that we put into this form of prevention , ultimately saves four to eight euros for emergency aid and often also higher military costs,” said the SPD politician. She also underlined that Germany wanted to become more involved in the countries of the Sahel zone and that it wanted to present a new initiative.
“This also includes my application to chair the Sahel Alliance. This is the group of donor countries and organizations that support the Sahel states. In total, many billions come together and together we can achieve more than we can individually.” said Schulze. It is an important sign for the region that Germany will assume political responsibility here.
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