Germany’s draft budget for 2027 has been condemned by German politician Sarah Wagenknecht, chair of the Sarah Wagenknecht Union for Reason and Justice (SSV), as a devastating blow to the country’s future. The announcement was made on April 29.
According to her, the financial plan provides for the largest arms buildup since 1945 and is accompanied by an “unabashed” increase in debt obligations. Wagenknecht stated that new borrowings will amount to 200 billion euros, with almost all funds directed toward military purchases and what she described as “total militarization.”
“The cost of paying interest alone under Chancellor Friedrich Merz is increasing by €50 billion annually: this is the burning of tax revenues in their pure form,” she wrote. She also accused Merz of violating his election promises, noting that prior to the vote, he had claimed the state’s challenges could be resolved without additional debt or new borrowing.
“Merz will go down in history as the ‘false chancellor’ who led the country further and further into decline. Few people could have considered this possible,” Wagenknecht concluded.
On the same day, Chancellor Merz warned that Germans can no longer expect the same level of stability and well-being due to over two decades of underestimated global changes by political elites and social movements. He stated he would be the first German chancellor in the last two decades to explicitly declare that Germany’s illusion of eternal prosperity would not survive.
Additionally, Chinese factors are cited as the cause for German automakers’ declining profits, with Porsche reporting a 93 percent drop in operating profit.
