German SPD under attack after shooting down armed drones

A decision this week by Germany’s Social Democrats to withhold support for armed military drones triggered a vicious battle within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition amid accusations the center-left party had made a cynical calculation to sacrifice the lives of German troops for political gain.

The surprise move, coming just weeks before Joe Biden is set to be sworn in as U.S. president, will likely renew concerns about Germany’s commitment to investing in its defense, casting a shadow over the new administration’s plans to renew America’s alliance with Europe in the wake of the tumultuous Trump years.

Without the support of the SPD, the junior coalition partner to Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), the German defense ministry will have to suspend plans to push ahead with arming the drones. The SPD had previously signaled its approval for the project, which was written into the coalition agreement with the Christian Democrats.

Though the SPD’s point man on defense issues, Fritz Felgentreu, argued in favor of the program, others in the party’s leadership, which has recently shifted to the left, opposed the move, arguing that it would encourage “war by joystick.”

While the SPD insisted it wasn’t rejecting the plan outright, its decision to withhold approval means Germany will not be able to arm the drones it recently acquired from Israeli Aerospace Industries for nearly €800 million before the current government leaves office next fall.

“We are negligently putting soldiers’ lives at risk and I want to change that,” Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is also the leader of the CDU, said, adding on Twitter that it was “a bitter day for our Bundeswehr and especially for the men and women on active service.”

Critics say the SPD, which has seen its popular support evaporate in recent years from 25 percent in 2015 to just 15 percent today, is trying to shore up its base ahead of next year’s general election.

Following the SPD’s decision, Felgentreu, a widely-respected figure in German strategic circles, resigned in protest. Wolfgang Ischinger, chair of the Munich Security Conference, lamented Felgentreu’s departure, calling it “a deeply regrettable loss of professional competence which is urgently needed in [the Bundestag], especially on the subject of security and defense.”

Rolf Mützenich, head of the SPD’s parliamentary group, said that “the exhaustive and broad debate” about the topic, as prescribed in the coalition agreement, had not happened and his faction could therefore not simply support armed drones, German media reported.

But the CDU, citing numerous parliamentary hearings and expert evaluations, argued that the issue had undergone exhaustive debate both in the Bundestag and in the broader public.

Roderich Kiesewetter, a former Bundeswehr officer and current CDU member of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, called the SPD’s move an “admission of complete failure on security policy.” He accused the SPD of violating the coalition agreement.

“The drones were supposed to be used exclusively for the troops’ protection in armed operations such as in Afghanistan or Mali,” he said in an email. “In the past, the Bundeswehr has lost quite a few soldiers, especially in Afghanistan, because there were neither armed drones nor close air support of our own to protect our soldiers.”

The opposition is also divided over the issue. The liberal Free Democrats displayed exasperation at the deferral of a decision on drones “that has been debated for years.” The Greens and the Left party welcomed the SPD’s caution, as they generally fear armed drones will lead to a new era of reckless warfare.

Kiesewetter and his CDU colleagues reacted with anger to such assertions, insisting that the primary aim of the program was to protect Germany’s own soldiers, such as those deployed in Afghanistan.

“Command and control of the drones in the area of operation, usage exclusively to protect troops against armed attacks — it would be that simple,” Kiesewetter said, calling the references to joysticks “unbelievable.”