INTERNAL SECURITY TASKS FOR THE GERMAN ARMY?
Considerations of the German Interior Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, CDU, about a possible role of the army in combating internal security threats are drawing angry reactions all over the country. In the opinion of Mr. Schäuble, the boundaries between internal and external security are becoming blurred in an age marked by "global migration fluxes" and "international terrorism".
In his reflexion paper, sent to all MPs of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) and the Bavarian CSU (Christian Social Union), the Interior Minister suggested that the Bundeswehr , Germany's federal armed forces, should consider making themselves available for security tasks also within the country, under certain strictly defined circumstances.
Schäuble's "loud thinking" immediately prompted massive protests by politicians of the opposition parties. The Minister of Justice, Mrs. Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a member of the liberal FDP, the junior partner in Chancellor Kohl's coalition government, was unequivocal in her rejection of the Interior Minister's move. Schäuble's idea of engaging soldiers for the protection of Germany's eastern borders against uncontrolled east-west migration fluxes was "grist to the mill of right-wing extremists", she said.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defence had rejected similar initiatives by the Interior Minister suggesting the use of soldiers equipped with Infrared-devices at Germany's eastern borders.
Not either in the media did Schäuble's suggestions find any support. The conservative pro-governmental daily, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , wondered, whether the doubtfulness within the Bundeswehr about its continued sense in the post-cold war era had already reached such an extent that one had to come up with ideas such as Schäuble's in order to justify its financial needs.
The liberal Frankfurter Rundschau reminded its readers of the lessons from the Nazi state and accused Mr. Schäuble of undermining a fundamental principle of freedom and democracy by seeking to blur the lines between the different roles of the army and the police. The Munich based Süddeutsche Zeitung in its turn advised the Bundeswehr to resist the Interior Minister's "populistic reasoning".
Source: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24.12.93