BERLIN: Germany’s ruling coalition has agreed on a draft budget for 2017 that foresees higher spending on security, espionage and foreign aid. More funds are also earmarked to fight the root causes of the migrant crisis.
German lawmakers said on Friday that the country planned to spend more on security, intelligence gathering and foreign aid in 2017, as part of their efforts to counter growing security threats. The decision came following an agreement between the nation’s governing coalition parties, comprised of the Christian Democrats (CDU), its Bavarian affiliate Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD).
Part of the money will be used to create 4,300 new positions at Germany’s police and security forces by 2020, the news agency DPA said.
The “Welt” daily reported that members of parliament’s budget committee also agreed to double planned staffing for a new agency designed to break encrypted communication to 120.
An additional 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) will be spent next year on humanitarian aid and programs designed to combat the causes of migration. The sum is dwarfed by the 22 billion euros that Germany expects to spend supporting hundreds of thousands of people who claimed asylum in the country over the past year.
