Twelve months ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took the podium of the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, from where he delivered one of the most important speeches of recent decades.

It was on February 27, 2022, just three 24 hours after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that Social Democrat Soltz announced the historic turn (Zeitenwende) in German foreign policy and defense in response to the tectonic changes caused by the war in Ukraine.

Recall that in the context of this speech, Olaf Scholz announced: the creation of a special fund in the amount of 100 billion euros for the German armed forces, the intention of Germany to start giving 2% of GDP to defense, thereby responding to the relevant goals of NATO, sending military independence of Germany from Russian hydrocarbons.

A year later, the German Chancellor returned to the same stage to report on the progress made on that front. However, according to the FT, the reality of the past twelve months fell short of the rhetorical commitment of the German leadership, as in practice Scholz struggled to bring a spirit of renewal to German defense policy.

Those who hoped for a new, more assertive German foreign policy that would allow Germany to assume a role in world affairs commensurate with its enormous economic power were disappointed, writes the FT.

“This war is really a profound turning point in our history and what the government is doing is not responding […] It seems that the chancellor hesitates, hesitates and takes decisions only under pressure,” Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU), said a few days ago.

Merz even critically pointed out that “the defense budget for 2023 has decreased by 300 million euros compared to 2022.”

Scholz’s supporters rush to support him, pointing out that the problems are huge, that policies that have been ingrained for decades cannot be changed in a few months, and the armed forces of the German Bundeswehr cannot suddenly plug the holes and gaps they had. was created after many years of cuts.

The €100 billion fund announced by Soltz in February 2022 was finally established last May. However, out of these 100 billion, not a single euro has been spent so far, according to the FT.

Some argue that former Defense Secretary Christine Lambrecht, who was due to be replaced before January 2023, is to blame for the delays.

Boris Pistorius has now taken Lambrecht’s post at the helm of the German Defense Ministry. However, the situation in which the German armed forces find themselves today is worse than twelve months ago, according to the FT.

In the event of a real war, Germany’s ammunition stocks would run out in just 24 hours, and around 20 billion euros are needed to fill those gaps, according to German officials.

As for the NATO goal of spending 2% of GDP on defense, Germany is not going to “catch” it in practice in the coming years, since it will have to spend another 10 billion euros annually on this goal, Pistorius argues.

However, experts such as Rafael Los of the European Council on Foreign Relations “see” other problems in the German armed forces, which, in addition to procurement, are associated with a “civil service mentality” and “bureaucracy”.

“We have achieved more than many thought. Ukraine has succeeded in responding to Russia’s aggressive war, while we have strengthened the unity and political cohesion of Europe,” Solz said, for his part, speaking in the Bundestag today.

According to FT, DW