The federal government wants to spend more money on internal security – but that is not enough, says police union leader Kopelke. He is also surprised by savings plans in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Berlin/Düsseldorf – The general feeling of security has been shaken. At least after the attack in Solingen or the planned suspected terrorist attack in Munich. In both cases, the perpetrators had an Islamist background. Experts warn that the Islamic State (IS) has Europe and Germany in its sights – and that more and more young men are being radicalized, especially on social media, and are becoming potentially unpredictable lone perpetrators.
Solingen attack and planned terrorist attack in Munich: More money for internal security
Meanwhile, security authorities have been complaining for years about insufficient resources and powers when it comes to investigating terror suspects. The topic of internal security is also on the agenda of the current budget discussions in the Bundestag. The Federal Ministry of the Interior recently made it clear that one billion euros more is earmarked for internal security in 2025. But that alone is not enough, says Jochen Kopelke, head of the police union (GdP), in an interview with IPPEN.MEDIA.
“One billion more for security from 2025 is a good step by the traffic light coalition. But we also expect further money in the 2024 supplementary budget to finance internal security in order to solve the current major budget problems of the Federal Police, the BKA and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution,” said Kopelke, who would like to see a clear signal from the government: “We need the billion more now, not just from 2025.”
Police union wants special funds for security
Just a few days ago, SPD Secretary General Kevin Kühnert made it clear in an interview with this editorial team that the financing of internal security should not be up for discussion in budget debates and that improvements should be made if necessary. At the beginning of the year, the SPD also called for a special fund for internal security – comparable to the 100 billion euro special fund for defense. There are currently no concrete statements about what such a package might look like and how large it might be. However, security experts believe that a double-digit billion amount would be sensible.
GdP boss Jochen Kopelke also emphatically calls for a special fund: “The parliamentary group meetings at the federal level show that such a special investment is an issue there and that the Greens and SPD want to implement it. From the point of view of the police union, when considering subjective and objective security throughout the Federal Republic, there is no way around joint financing of internal security.” Digitalization projects and the modernization of vehicles, departments and equipment must be “immediately and forcefully pushed forward”.
The opposition in the Bundestag sees things similarly. The Union’s domestic policy spokesman in the Bundestag told IPPEN.MEDIA: “The draft bill for the 2025 budget initially looks promising for internal security, but at second glance it is mostly just eyewash.” A large part of the increase in funding will go towards running costs, especially for the police. “It will be difficult to achieve real improvements,” says Throm.
“We need a real security turnaround,” the CDU politician continued. “Above all, that means more powers for our authorities. By easing data protection and technical options such as IP address storage and automated facial recognition, we would be a big step further.” So far, this has failed because of the FDP and the Greens, said Throm, who also called on the Chancellor to take responsibility: “Chancellor Scholz must not continue to duck away. It is time to act.”
After Solingen, NRW is planning to cut prevention costs
Meanwhile, the budget in NRW – the state where a suspected Islamist terrorist killed three people in the Solingen attack – is facing a round of austerity measures. It is precisely in integration measures and prevention projects such as “Kurve Kriegen”, which is intended to protect young people from becoming repeat offenders, that savings are likely to be made. In 2025, for example, around 13 million euros are to be made for social counseling for refugees – this year it is 35 million. There will also be significant cuts in return projects. Jochen Kopelke finds this hard to understand: “I am surprised that NRW wants to save on prevention. Internal security must be the focus of all state budgets, because the fears of the population can be solved with more police and also with more prevention.”
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