Challenge for democracy to shift economy to war footing - German general

It is more difficult for democratic countries to transition to a wartime economy if they are not at war at the moment.

This was stated in a comment to Ukrinform by Major General Christian Freuding, the chief coordinator of German military aid to Ukraine.

"It is very difficult in a liberal democracy, which is not a war at the very moment, d to come to a kind of war economy. And what we are trying to do is to increase our production capabilities, to intensively discuss with the defense industry what they need to increase their defense capacities.," the general said.

He added that the defense industry in Germany has been in a state of peace for more than three decades, shrinking production capacities. "To change this is quite a challenge. We have achieved something, especially in the field of air defense, with regard to IRIS-T systems and rockets to them. We have doubled the output at the production lines. We have increased production of artillery ammunition, but not in a sufficient way yet,” admitted Freuding.

He added that Germany does not need an “external push” to strengthen its defense capabilities.

“We should step up and be able to defend ourselves and our NATO partners. We are discussing our defense expenditure very intensively in Germany. I think it could be one of the top topics during the upcoming election campaign,” the general noted.

Freuding believes that if a new government comes to power, a certain coalition will be created in which there will be a clear coalition agreement, and one of the main topics in such an agreement will be defense spending.

As Ukrinform reported, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, after meeting with counterparts from France, the UK, Italy, and Poland in Berlin on Monday, said that the Russian war has ceased to be an exclusively regional conflict due to the Kremlin's engaging of foreign mercenaries and involving foreign weapons, so Ukraine's partners should further increase their assistance. He also informed about Rustem Umerov's request to continue work in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, UDCG, format. The German politician recalled that since January, coordination by the group will be carried out from Wiesbaden (Germany), and assured that all five countries are determined to continue cooperation in this format.