Monday, February 3, 2025

Research reveals - Merkel signed and remained silent: Afghanistan mission was one billion euros more expensive

Research reveals - Merkel signed and remained silent: Afghanistan mission was one billion euros more expensive FOCUS Online • 4 hours • 2 minutes reading time The Bundeswehr's Afghanistan mission was more expensive than previously known. Secret documents show higher costs, which Angela Merkel also acknowledged by signing. A different figure was communicated - and the then Chancellor remained silent. The Bundeswehr mission in Afghanistan cost significantly more than previously assumed. According to research by "Stern", the actual costs amount to around 18.3 billion euros - one billion more than the officially communicated sum of 17.3 billion euros. Particularly explosive: The then Chancellor Angela Merkel was informed of the higher expenditure. Nevertheless, only the lower figures were initially given to the Bundestag. The government paper that "Stern" reports on is two-page and dates from September 13, 2021. One day later, the then head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun, signed it before it landed on the Chancellor's desk on September 15. She also signed the document personally. This also means that she knew about it when her government, at the request of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag, named 17.3 billion euros in expenditure a little later. An ARD documentary sheds light on Angela Merkel and the "fateful years of a Chancellor". Financial burden and unclear objectives The costs were distributed among various ministries and departments that also signed the letter: The Ministry of Defense spent 12.3 billion euros on the deployment of the Bundeswehr. The Foreign Office invested 2.7 billion euros, including in stabilization measures and humanitarian aid. The Development Ministry contributed a further 2.58 billion euros. The financing of the Afghan army cost 690 million euros. The operation of the German embassy cost around 12 million euros annually, plus 4.5 million euros for armored vehicles and 84 million for construction work. Despite these enormous sums, the result was sobering: after 20 years, the mission ended on August 15, 2021 with the return of the Taliban to power. The federal government had not managed to evacuate all German citizens and Afghan local staff in time. Thousands were left behind. Lack of strategy and criticism from politicians The Afghanistan mission is now viewed by experts and politicians as a strategic failure. Military expert Sönke Neitzel from the University of Potsdam demands that future missions must have clear goals instead of "stumbling into them without a strategy." Michael Müller (SPD), who is leading the review of the mission, also comes to the conclusion that the high costs were not proportionate to the progress made. Green MP Philip Krämer was particularly critical: Too many funds were spent without a clear objective, and Germany tolerated corrupt structures in Afghanistan. In fact, aid money was misused several times. And the costs could be even higher: expenditure on German aid projects with international organizations such as the World Bank, the IMF and the United Nations is not included. Another sensitive point also remains under wraps - the financial expenditure of the Federal Intelligence Service in Afghanistan is considered to be confidential according to the Federal Government.