Green defense spokesman:

“Are not saviors of the armed forces, but…”

(Bild: krone.tv)

"Some people find it so surprising that we Greens are now standing there and saying that the armed forces need to be increased," says David Stögmüller, the Greens' military spokesman, in the krone.tv talk with Jana Pasching. "Who has cut back? It was the blacks, the blues and the reds who had the most time in government and no money ever flowed into the army."

"I don't want to say that we are the saviors, but we have recognized the situation that there is a war a few hundred meters across the border. If Ukraine falls, Russia will be at the door. That's a fact."

"What we have is not an army capable of defending itself," says Stögmüller. The reduction has also reduced the protection of soldiers. "How are you supposed to protect soldiers on missions abroad if they don't even have proper equipment?" For the Greens, it was particularly important that military capability fitted into the risk picture. Stögmüller emphasized the danger of cyber attacks several times during the discussion.

Defense spokesperson for the Greens, David Stögmüller(Bild: krone.tv)

"Then we are already in a dicey situation"
 The deployment of Western ground troops in Ukraine - a proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron - was rejected by Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Wednesday. He warned of an unstoppable spiral of escalation and that one could "stumble into wars" unintentionally. Stögmüller: "There is of course the danger that if the West gets more involved, Russia will say 'that's NATO involvement'. Then we are already in a situation that could become very dicey."

"Don't do security policy by the back door"
Stögmüller is certain that the decision for the new Austrian security strategy, which was announced last year, will be made before the summer. The Greens would have adopted it "a long time ago." A larger strategy is needed on how to end Austria's dependence on Russian gas. For Stögmüller, it is important that not only the government decides on this, but that there is a wider discourse among the entire population and in parliament. Parliamentary parties should be able to discuss the issue together with experts and the public. "We must not discuss security policy somewhere in the back door."

Will the Russian gas exit be expensive? 
Stögmüller does not necessarily believe that electricity and gas will become more expensive for the end consumer if Austria does not purchase gas from Russia. "The more dependent we are, the more Russia can determine the price. If Putin needs more money, he will raise the price."

Watch the full interview with David Stögmüller in the video above.