Sahra Wagenknecht, co-founder of the BSW party, sharply criticized the federal government’s proposed budget blueprint for the coming year. Speaking to the “Welt”, she stated that the 2027 budget includes the largest rearmament effort since 1945 and represents a reckless accumulation of debt. She warned that the plan involves taking on 200 billion euros in new debt, almost entirely earmarked for new weaponry and the “militarization of Germany” calling the entire package a “time bomb” for the nation’s future.
The critique was leveled as the cabinet, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), prepares to vote on the budget draft this Wednesday, which must subsequently be approved by the Bundestag. Wagenknecht highlighted the increasing financial burden, pointing out that under Merz alone, merely the costs for interest payments have risen by 50 billion euros yearly-a sum she described as “pure burning of tax money”. She recalled that Merz had previously emphasized that Germany’s challenges could be addressed without additional levies or new borrowing.
In a highly critical assessment of the current leadership, Wagenknecht added, “Merz will go down in history as a lying chancellor who is leading the country into continuous decline. Few would have expected it, but Merz and Klingbeil are even less capable and more reckless than their predecessors”.
