German media reported earlier this week that the country's government was planning to supply the German Armed Forces with new weapons. German parliament's military commissioner Hans-Peter Bartels said in February that the budget cuts led to German armed forces seriously lacking both in personnel and in equipment, with the latter often outdated or not even fully operational.
"Basically, we consider that the SPD politicians in the coalition are not sufficiently familiar with military matters. They touch the surface but have lost the professionalism in defense issues that existed in the days of late Chancellor Helmut Schmidt," Kestner said.
READ MORE: Germany Plans to Spend €450 Million for Army Modernization — Drop in the Ocean?
According to the AfD politician, the SPD, which is currently part of the ruling coalition with the CDU/CSU conservatives, does not have any military experts. The lack of expertise would explain the concerns expressed by former Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, an SPD member, over the military spending increase, Kestner added.
Last year, Gabriel stressed that NATO's defense spending target of 2 percent of the GDP for all the alliance members was a goal to aspire to rather than a rigid rule. The remark was made amid US President Donald Trump's push for alliance members to spend their fair share on defense.
"It is not only a matter of money and equipment. It is a question of decision-making, respect and weight within NATO. Germany is not listened to by its partners," Kestner said.
The AfD spokesman added that Germany was "barely relevant" in EU defense.
"We don’t play at the level of France or the United Kingdom, so Germany needs to catch up and respect its engagements vis-a-vis NATO," Kestner said.
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, who belongs to the CDU, is moving in the right direction, but these efforts are not enough, according to Kestner.
"What Mrs von der Leyen does is applying cosmetics to a terrible situation of the army! She has been in the position of defense minister for years, she has no excuses," the German lawmaker said.
READ MORE: Bundeswehr 'Confidence' in Government 'Dangerously Undermined' — Sen. Officer
Kestner stressed that Germany should work on new weapon systems, including drones, support its own exporters and strengthen the country's arms industry.
The defense spending draft proposed in January foresees a defense budget of 42.4 billion euros, or about $51 billion, for 2021, which is an increase from 37 billion euros in 2017. Nevertheless, this is likely to fall short of the 2-percent target.
Earlier this day, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived at NATO's Brussels headquarters, where he is expected to reiterate Washington's message on the importance of military spending.
