For a long time, Minister Pistorius appeared to be a lone voice in the wilderness when he called in public for war readiness and higher defence spending. The rest of the government and large sections of politics did not seem to be interested. Now, however, there has been a cabinet decision that goes far beyond the scope of the Ministry of Defence. On 5 June, the Federal Government issued new overall defence framework guidelines. Minister Pistorius presented them to the press together with his colleague from the Ministry of the Interior, Nancy Faeser.
More important than the details of the content of this 57-page paper is how the document came about in the first place. For the first time in 35 years, those responsible in all federal ministries, in the federal states and in many other institutions had to come to terms with what their contribution to the defence of our country actually is. For many, this was completely unfamiliar and for some it was certainly an imposition. This is precisely why the work itself contributed at least as much to a common understanding as the published result.
By no means everything is new. The provisions of the Basic Law remain unchanged. Nevertheless, it is good to recall many things that once seemed self-evident. This includes legal foundations such as the so-called emergency laws and the powers of the federal government to issue directives to the federal states. Terms such as external emergency, civil defence and military national defence are recalled and dusted off. In this respect, the guidelines are a good basis for further work on the topic of overall defence.
It is undisputed that there is still a lot to do. If you look at the responsibilities at sea, for example, there is still a lot that needs to be regulated in a Maritime Safety Act. First of all, however, we should be pleased that the turnaround has mentally reached the entire federal government and beyond. Now it's time to keep the momentum going, to fulfil the guidelines with life and above all: practice, practice, practice!
Rear Admiral (ret.) Karsten Schneider
President DMI
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