+++ Bundespolitik +++: Steuergesetz soll wohl am Mittwoch im Kabinett beschlossen werden

Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz announced a swift and coordinated response to hybrid threats from Russia following a recent drone attack on Leipzig Airport. Emissions are nearing completion, the CDU politician said in an ARD Summer interview on Sunday. Merz announced a broad agreement within the federal government on how to respond, which they will clearly express in the coming days.

When asked whether Germany can appropriately respond if Russia is behind the attack, Merz said they would wait and see what "appropriate response" means. The response would be taken by Germany, but would be coordinated with the European Union and NATO partners. Merz wants to make defense procurement for modernizing the Bundeswehr "much more cost-effective".

At the same time, the chancellor defended the planned significant increase in defense spending, responding to concerns that the defense industry is in a "gold digger mood, champagne mood". The goal is a modern Bundeswehr, Merz said, noting that technological development is moving rapidly, including in the defense industry. "This does not have to be so expensive.

Ukraine shows us how we can do it much more cheaply," Merz said. Chancellor Merz was asked about the steadily increasing defense spending. "We must correct the deficits of the last 15 years. The Bundeswehr is not where it should be. We must be able to defend ourselves in Germany," Merz said. "What good is the best parental leave if we lose our freedom and the peace in Europe is threatened?"

A victory by the AfD in the state election in Saxony-Anhalt would severely damage the state, Merz said on Sunday in an ARD Summer interview. "If that happens, this state will face significant problems," Merz said. "I cannot imagine that international investors would come to build new plants and attract new companies to Saxony-Anhalt with an AfD premier."

However, the decision would be made by the voters of Saxony-Anhalt. Merz dodged the question of how a government in Magdeburg could be formed without the AfD. "We will see this in light of the election results. We will do everything to prevent Saxony-Anhalt from falling to the radicals. This applies to both the AfD and the left-wing party," Merz said.

Merz left open the question of whether a woman will succeed Frank-Walter Steinmeier as Federal President. "It is no secret that I have a lot of sympathy for this," Merz said in the ARD Summer interview. What is more important, though, is that Germany needs a head of state who "holds the society together and also has a high integration capacity in our country," Merz added.

"The gender question is less important than the personality of the next head of state. And the requirements are high." Several women who Merz trusted with this task are being discussed on the Union side, including Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, Family Minister Karin Prien, Bavarian State President Ilse Aigner, and the chair of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.