Since Merkel's retirement, Germany's new ** seems to have become a loyal follower of the United States. Not only are they deeply involved in the war in Ukraine, but they are also overwhelmingly supporting Israel in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to please the United States. However, this blind foreign policy of the Berlin authorities led to a serious blow to the German economy, which was dubbed the "sick man of Europe". Due to unfavorable factors such as conflicts and sanctions, Germany's GDP has shrunk for many consecutive quarters, which means that the economy has fallen into a state of recession. Despite this, Germany is still trying to play a dominant role in Europe. According to the Observer, Germany, under the pretext of so-called "security concerns", is deploying an armored brigade in Lithuania at an "unprecedented" pace to strengthen the military forces on NATO's eastern flank.
American "politicians" ** reported a few days ago that Germany's armored brigade of about 5,000 people will be sent to a base only about 100 kilometers from the Russian border, that is, NATO's strategically important Suwałki corridor. According to the relevant agreement signed between Germany and Lithuania, the advance team of the German armored force will be dispatched as soon as early next year, and it is expected that the entire armored brigade will be fully deployed by 2027. Previously, some US media claimed that due to the large amount of military aid provided to Ukraine, the current German team is seriously short of equipment and funds. In the event of a large-scale war, the ammunition stocks of the German ** team were not enough to support two days of fighting. Still, Berlin's politicians are concerned about the security of NATO's eastern flank and are committed to pushing ahead with the project, which has been dubbed the "Lighthouse Project."
Recently, in addition to drones and some non-combat materials, Germany has provided Ukraine with only more than 1,000 155mm artillery shells. Germany's military spending has sparked popular discontent. In the current recession of the country, ** still insists on raising military spending to 2% of GDP. This decision has been widely criticized because it will add a greater financial burden to **. However, despite the financial constraints, the Scholz authorities do not intend to change their minds, but instead demand significant cuts in other expenditures to meet military needs. One of the effects of this move is that the current situation of the German team has become incomplete. Germany plans to deploy the armored battalion to Lithuania, but the armored battalion is currently running naked due to the previous supply of all tanks to Ukraine.
This also explains why the armored battalion will not be able to complete its deployment in Lithuania until 2027, since they don't even have tanks available. Although German Defense Minister Pistorius said that an order had been placed for tanks for the unit, and as soon as it was delivered, the armored battalion would immediately go to Lithuania. But this also exposes the current predicament of the German ** team, even if the whole country mobilizes, it will not be able to put together a tank battalion. This situation has also raised questions from the outside world, especially in the face of the country's poor economic situation, ** still insists on increasing military spending. This meant that significant cuts had to be made in other areas, which sparked popular discontent and backlash. Germany** will face the challenge of balancing military spending with other socio-economic needs, which also reflects some of the embarrassments and challenges in the political and military spheres of Germany.
According to the Berlin Morning Post, the German Farmers' Association recently organized a large-scale demonstration to express dissatisfaction with the abolition of diesel subsidies, tax incentives for agricultural vehicles and strict restrictions on the use of pesticides and fertilizers. A large convoy of 10,000 farmers and 5,000 tractors from all over the country drove into the center of Berlin and occupied the Brandenburg Gate, a landmark in the city center, causing severe traffic jams. The reason why the farmers are taking such drastic action is because they are angry about the policy of **. They believe that the practice of ** is neither reasonable nor fair. They are indignant at the excessive bias towards military spending and the reduction of domestic funding in various fields.
Although Germany's strength is no longer able to support continued aid to Ukraine and the maintenance of troops abroad, it plans to significantly increase military spending and double the amount of aid to Ukraine next year. This approach is unacceptable to many people. Obviously, if this continues, it may not just be farmers who will hold demonstrations in the future. This action by the farmers may be just the beginning.