1 Every day we are confronted with
the war in with the war in Ukraine.
Contrary to its previous principles, of not supplying weapons to conflict
zones, Germany has already provided Ukraine Ukraine with massive deliveries of weapons.
This Thursday, the Bundestag voted in favour of coalition and the CDU/CSU
also voted in favour of the supply of heavy weapons such as tanks.
Chancellor Scholz had has so far acted with restraint,
justifying this at the weekend with the with the danger
of becoming embroiled in a nuclear war.
For this approach he was by politicians such as Friedrich
Merz, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann and Anton or Anton Hofreiter sharply criticised him.
But is it really only the concerns for the Ukrainian population that is
driving these politicians - or is it also possible that tangible also playing a
major role in this war? interests play a major role in this war?
Because the arms industry, which financially from this conflict, is one of the most important
industries, with a global turnover of 2 trillion US dollars in 2021, the arms industry is
one of the most important and thus also most influential branches of industry.
The world's largest defence companies are the US corporations Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics.
In Germany, in addition to the two Airbus and MBDA, the exclusively
German companies Rheinmetall, Thyssen German companies Rheinmetall, Thyssen-Krupp, Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann, Diehl and Heckler &
Koch. Heckler & Koch are among the heavyweights in the industry.
In this programme we would therefore like to examine how
the arms industry is networked with with German politics and whether this
could have an influence on decisions about on German arms deliveries.
Lobbying - Representation of the interests of the arms industry in
politics Through so-called lobbying, interest groups interest groups, such as arms companies,
to exert - for them - a profitable influence on politics.
This is done primarily through cultivating personal
connections between the company's lobbyists and influential politicians.
Since the beginning of the year Representatives of corporate interests in
Germany have had to register in a so-called lobby register.
These entries show that the corporations and associations from the arms industry invested the
very high sum of more than 14 million € was invested in lobbying in Germany.
Airbus alone employs 53 lobbyists in its armaments and
aerospace division and its helicopter division employs 53 lobbyists.
How the lobbying of the armament companies works and the methods they
use can be seen in the examples of the former members of Dirk
Niebel (FDP) and Johannes Kahrs (SPD) as examples. Kahrs (SPD): Method 1:
Side changer Dirk Niebel was Federal Minister for and Development and, just one
year into his term of office, he joined He joined Rheinmetall as chief
lobbyist just one year after his term in office.
Through his earlier work as Development Minister he had not only
established intensive contacts in German politics, but also with foreign governments. governments,
which he now uses profitably for his new employer. employer profitably.
Piquantly, even during his term of office During his term of office, the Federal
Security Council - in which he was represented as in which he was represented in
his function as development minister - approved various tank deals with Algeria, Qatar, etc., in
which his future employer, Rheinmetall Rheinmetall made a lot of money out of it.
Method 2: Party donations Apart from the
engagement of party donations are part of the arms
lobby's toolbox. toolbox of the arms lobby.
In the case of Johannes Kahrs it was so, that in 2005, during
the election campaign, he received donations of almost - KMW for short - and
Rheinmetall with donations of almost €60,000 to his district to his district association.
Kahrs won the direct mandate and sat on the budget committee
after his election as SPD representative for the defence budget.
There he was, among other things, in charge for
parliamentary affairs concerning the Puma infantry fighting vehicle, which was
developed by its two donors, Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann and Rheinmetall.
The budget for this project was increased by one billion shortly after the election.
That the donations were directly connected to this was was of course denied by Kahrs.
Nevertheless, the question arises, how neutral can parliamentarians, who are dependent
on support can actually decide when they have previously collected large sums
of money from the companies concerned. from the companies concerned beforehand.
Method 3: Lobbying associations Lobbying associations are another
method of lobbying associations represent another method of influence.
Johannes Kahrs, for example, was a member of the "Förderkreis Deutsches Heer"
(FKH for short), as well as the "Deutsche German Society for Defence Technology"
(DWT), which are two of the most important of the arms lobby.
Associations such as the FKH and the DWT are financed by the
arms industry with the aim of establishing close contacts to relevant decision-makers.
Here one exchanges professional ideas with them, organises lectures, seminars and discussion groups.
For the corporations this has the great advantage of being able to influence This has the great
advantage for the corporations of being able to influence legislation in advance of parliamentary decision-making processes.
The transparency initiative Lobbypedia, however, takes a critical view of this.
According to their observation decisions on armament policy are increasingly being shifted away
from the responsible parliamentary committees into non-transparent discussion rounds, in which there is a
lack of the necessary distance between the between MPs and the arms industry.
In the aforementioned associations Kahrs was not only an ordinary
member, but even sat on their even sat on the presidium
and was in this way their extended arm into politics.
In addition, Kahrs was also treasurer of the "German-Atlantic
Society", a lobby organisation of the which, according to its
own statements, "informs about NATO policy and policy and works
to strengthen the European pillars of the alliance." Johannes
Kahrs, as a member of parliament, was thus thoroughly
networked with the military-industrial complex in Germany.
According to media reports, he blocked some projects in the budget committee,
he blocked some projects until certain companies were awarded the contracts.
Now the question arises: Was Kahrs an isolated case? or are there other politicians who are similarly closely linked to
the arms lobby and who play an important role in the current discussion? play an important role in the current discussion?
Let's look at the leaders of the Heads in the Defence Committee.
This is naturally of great interest to the interest for the defence industry,
as it plays an important role in the in the adoption of the defence
budget and in the procurement of equipment and material and material for the Bundeswehr.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann The current chairperson of
the committee is the FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann.
It is probably the loudest voice heard at the moment voice when it comes to arms deliveries.
Almost daily she speaks out and vehemently demands the
delivery of heavy weapons to heavy weapons to Ukraine.
Especially Chancellor Scholz Scholz in particular, accusing him of
being too hesitant and lacking leadership. and lack of leadership.
If you look at the networks of Strack-Zimmermann's networks, it quickly
becomes clear why she is so committed to for arms deliveries.
Just like the aforementioned Johannes Kahrs she is represented in almost every important association and think
tank of the arms industry. think tank] of the arms industry and not only as a simple
member, but as a member of the but as a member of the board or presidium,
thus in a leading function, so at the...  Förderkreis Deutsches Heer
FKH  German Atlantic Society  Deutsche Gesellschaft für Wehrtechnik DWT  and
on the advisory board of the Let us take the example of the
German Society for Defence Technology. of the German Society for Defence Technology.
Here she works in the presidium with, among others, the The following arms manufacturers are among those responsible for the project:
Lockheed Martin, Thyssen-Krupp, Airbus, Daimler, Rheinmetall, Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann,
Diehl and the French Thales Group.
She is thus very well connected with the arms lobby, and so it is
only understandable that this woman constantly demands the delivery of tanks etc. to Ukraine.
It is also interesting to note that Strack-Zimmermann that from
2008 to 2014 she was the first mayor of Düsseldorf, which
is also the headquarters of Rheinmetall, the largest German arms manufacturer.
As mayor, one does have one's with the big companies in the city, and
Rheinmetall has been very generous during her Rheinmetall has been very generous during her time
in office and has donated at least 74,000 in donations to the Düsseldorf FDP.
Henning Otte The picture is similar for her
deputy on the Defence Committee, the picture is similar.
Henning Otte from the CDU, is one of the three board members at the
Förderkreis Deutsches Heer (FKH) and was Vice President of the German Society for Defence Technology.
For years he has advocated for higher
arms spending and fewer restrictions on arms exports.
In his constituency Rheinmetall has a tank factory in his constituency.
Little wonder, then, that he, too, is in favour of the for the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine.
Friedrich Merz / CDU Equally unsurprising is the call
for heavy from the mouth of CDU leader Friedrich Merz, given
that his former employer employer Blackrock is one of the major
shareholders of large arms arms companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin,
Airbus or Rheinmetall and thus profits directly from these arms
supplies. and thus profits directly from these arms deliveries.
In general, his party - the CDU - is closely is closely linked to the arms industry.
According to Greenpeace research, in the last four
legislative periods the party received large donations amounting to €678,545.
However, it can be assumed that this is only the tip of the iceberg, that this is only the tip of the iceberg.
This is because party donations must only have to be disclosed
in the parties' accounts if they exceed €10,000. of the parties.
Donations are therefore often transferred in in order not to exceed this limit.
Lobbypedia assumes that this transparency threshold means that transparency threshold, 75% of donations remain anonymous.
In return for the generous In return for the generous donations, the CDU/CSU
had in the past given the arms companies house passes for the Bundestag.
Representatives of over 20 arms companies thus gained free access to the MPs.
In the meantime, this practice is no longer possible, as
ID cards for companies have been have been prohibited since 2016.
However, the companies gain access to the lobbying associations such as the
Förderkreis deutsches Heer or the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Wehrtechnik. Society for Defence Technology.
Markus Söder / CSU The sister party, the CSU, also
traditionally seeks closeness to the economy and also to the arms industry.
Thus, so-called "Tafel rounds" were regularly So-called "Tafel rounds" were regularly organised,
at which the CSU chairmen Seehofer or Söder met with business bosses for
dinner, some of whom were very generous with donations afterwards.
In 2018, for example, Söder took part in one such round at a delicatessen restaurant,
which was also attended by the Chairman of Rheinmetall Armin Pappberger was present.
Various participants of this lunch then donated to the
CSU - among them Rheinmetall, among others, with € 19,500.
In the previous year, the CSU had already received received € 30,000 from the group.
The following year, Söder then stirred up the mood against the ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia.
Also other arms manufacturers, such as Airbus with €20,000 in 2019
or the Munich-based Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann Group with € 84,500 in the years 2009
- 2013, have repeatedly supported the CSU most generously.
Most recently, at the end of 2021, there was then €750,000 from the
Association of the Metal and Electrical Industry, in which defence companies such as
Airbus and the Diehl Group, a big Christmas present for the CSU.
Could this be one reason why their chairman, Söder,
is now so vehemently calling of weapons to Ukraine?
The Greens The Greens are
also becoming interesting for the arms industry.
Südwestmetall, an association that includes the defence companies Heckler & Koch, Diehl
Defence and MTU, has been donating at least 100,000 annually to the Greens.
The Greens also no longer have any the Greens no longer have any reservations.
For example, the party-affiliated Heinrich Böll Foundation, for example, established close
contacts here and published the brochure brochure "Upstairs - Your Flight Attendant".
Politicians like Anton Hofreiter Anton Hofreiter, who coincidentally is also calling
for heavy weapons. who also happens to be calling for heavy weapons.
Airbus and Rheinmetall are also among the sponsoring members of the party-affiliated
"Green Business Dialogue", a lobbying association, which particularly seeks proximity to the Greens.
So it is no surprise that the Green Ministers Habeck and
Baerbock are also in favour of the delivery of heavy weapons.
Baerbock had already spoken out in favour of "robust for "robust military operations" long before the Russian attack.
Maybe she learned that at Klaus Schwab's World Economic Forum - WEF for
short - when she was trained there as a "Young Global Leader". Leader" there.
After all, the WEF is home to some of the world's biggest defence
companies such as Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Boeing, BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation are represented.
SPD - and the role of the Federal Chancellor Within
the SPD, too, there are close ties to the arms industry.
The chairman of the FKH, Lars Klingbeil was formerly a
member of both the FKH Presidium and the DWT Presidium.
The SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz is repeatedly criticised by the media
and pro-armament politicians for doing that he is doing too little.
If you look more closely, however, he has already done quite a a great deal for the benefit of the arms industry.
In Merkel's time, he was still a member of the Finance
Minister on the Federal Security Council and, even then, approved and even
then approved numerous arms exports, including to authoritarian regimes and crisis regions.
Now already exploded only by his announcement that he wants
to create a "special fund" of Bundeswehr" of € 100 billion,
the prices of arms companies on the stock exchange exploded.
The Rheinmetall share alone has have doubled in the meantime.
In addition, Ukraine has been granted two billion from German arms companies.
to place orders, with Germany shall pay the costs.
Through the promised ring swap with Slovenia, heavy weapons are also Slovenia is already indirectly supplying heavy
weapons by handing over its tanks to the Ukraine and receives its tanks from the Germans in return.
With the motion introduced this week by his government coalition in the Bundestag this week to
supply heavy weapons to the crisis region of Ukraine. the last taboo has now been broken.
Conclusion: There are close links between the arms lobby and leading There
are very close links between the arms lobby and leading politicians.
The examples mentioned in this programme were almost certainly only the tip of the iceberg.
The essence of this kind of lobbying is that it takes
place in secret - in the back room, so to speak.
Very little comes to the light of day.
The politicians who receive donations from armament companies or are
part of these lobbying associations must necessarily be considered biased.
It is very doubtful whether their demands for weapons are
really meant to help Ukraine or rather the arms behind them.
It is highly likely that these the Ukrainian population in the
face of an overwhelmingly powerful adversary. but only contribute to further fuelling
and pointlessly prolonging the war. and senselessly prolong the war.
A crisis profit ban, as demanded by Kla.TV founder Ivo Sasek called for in
the programme, is therefore also absolutely necessary in the area of weapons and armaments.
This also applies to the party donations of companies that do business with war.
These must be banned as a matter of urgency, because through them the parties indirectly
profit from the war and the responsible politicians thereby get into a conflict of conscience.
Please help to raise awareness by awareness by forwarding this broadcast
to as many people as possible. as many people as possible.
And one more request at the end: According to the analysis of
the geopolitical expert Christoph Hörstel we are one millimetre away from nuclear war.
Through these arms deliveries the danger that we will
be dragged into this war increases more and more.
This must be prevented at all costs.
Let us therefore lobby just like the Arms industry lobbying - but for peace!
Share your concerns with your Member of Tell your MP about your concerns and demand a change of course away
from arms deliveries towards peace efforts, so as not to leave the field to those who are not to leave the
field to those who escalate the conflict with their arms supplies, putting us and thereby put us in great danger.