Von der Leyen’s demand is on top of what former finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble earmarked in his budget draft from last summer, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported yesterday.
Current Finance Minister Olaf Scholz only plans to allot the military somewhere around €6bn more than Schaeuble did for the three year period.
On Wednesday, Germany’s cabinet is due to resolve the so-called benchmarks for both the 2019 budget and a broader financial framework until 2022.
German lawmakers are expected to pass a budget for the coming year this autumn.
Expenditure cuts have determined German defence policy for more than a quarter-century, but von der Leyen pledged an end to the austerity.
Critics say the government isn’t providing the Bundeswehr (German military) with sufficient financing, despite a booming economy, which has left Germany’s military ill-equipped.
The country’s defence spending plan isn’t sufficient to modernise the German army and fill gaps, von der Leyen said in March.
On Friday defence ministry sources were reported as saying that the ministry will have to postpone at least one major international weapons programme unless more funds are added for 2019.
“That (the increase allotted by Minister Scholz) represents a significant increase, but is unsatisfactory when measured against the enormous pent-up needs for modernisation,” said one source.
“We achieved a lot for the Bundeswehr after difficult negotiations, but not everything. The Bundeswehr wants to and must rapidly close the gaps that exist after 25 years of underfunding in procurement,” the official said.
Germany sharply curtailed military spending after the end of the Cold War, but began boosting spending again after Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014.
Reports by the ministry and parliament this year raised concerns that missing spare parts and quality defects had curtailed the readiness of Germany’s submarines, warplanes and some other key weapons.
On Thursday Von der Leyen and her French counterpart Florence Parly signed documents to move forward on joint development and procurement of a new combat jet and other programmes.
