BSW on foreign affairs and defence

The BSW rejects the loans for armaments made possible by the loosening of the debt brake in March 2025, calling them “war credits.” Saxony-Anhalt should not back a policy that, in the party's view, puts rearmament ahead of diplomacy. It calls for disarmament and a new policy of détente.

Since 2025 the state may take on more debt for weapons. The BSW is against this. The party wants talks instead of more weapons. It also says war does great harm to the climate.

The platform criticizes the Bundestag decision of March 18, 2025, which loosened the debt brake for military spending. It objects that the exemption does not cover schools, hospitals or social housing, and it faults state governments for approving it in the Bundesrat. The party speaks of the largest arms buildup since the Federal Republic was founded. It also calls war the biggest climate polluter, because producing and using weapons and rebuilding afterward release large amounts of greenhouse gases. From this it derives its demand for worldwide disarmament.

The BSW demands that Germany stop supplying weapons to Israel and recognize Palestine as a state. The EU's association agreement with Israel should also be suspended. The party sees the federal government as sharing responsibility for violations of international law in Gaza because of the deliveries.

Germany should stop sending weapons to Israel. Palestine should count as a state. The fighting in Gaza should stop. A treaty between the EU and Israel should be put on hold.

According to the platform, Germany is one of Israel's largest arms suppliers after the United States. It says these weapons are used in Gaza against civilian facilities. The party calls for a ceasefire, an end to the occupation, recognition of Palestinian statehood and a halt to German arms deliveries. The agreement governing EU-Israel relations should be suspended for the time being.

The BSW insists on the Two Plus Four Treaty, which bans nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in eastern Germany and caps the size of the Bundeswehr. It rejects new US intermediate-range missiles and backs the ICAN appeal for a Germany free of nuclear weapons. The party regards openness about deployment and procurement as a condition of democratic oversight.

There should be no nuclear weapons in eastern Germany. A treaty from 1990 says so. The BSW wants this treaty to be kept. The party rejects new missiles from the US.

The Two Plus Four Treaty of 1990 settled German unification between the two German states and the four Allied powers. From it, the platform highlights the ban on nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in the east and the ceiling on the size of the Bundeswehr. It also demands that no new US intermediate-range missiles be deployed. The party wants to support the appeal by the ICAN campaign for a nuclear-weapon-free Germany. Deployment, procurement and military planning should be publicly accounted for.

The BSW wants to prevent military training areas in the state from growing and Saxony-Anhalt from becoming a hub for NATO operations. It rejects NATO maneuvers and military use of civilian infrastructure. The party considers a peace policy incompatible with tying civilian structures into military planning.

Training grounds for soldiers should not get bigger. This applies above all to the Letzlinger Heide and the Zeitzer Forst. NATO should hold no maneuvers in the state. Roads and rails should not serve the military.

The platform names the Letzlinger Heide and the Zeitzer Forst, which it describes as valuable natural and recreational areas. It says there are already conflicts there over noise, the environment and land use. In the Zeitzer Forst, earlier plans for firing ranges were stopped only by citizens' groups, environmental organizations and courts. The state should also not serve as a transit and logistics zone for the military, and civilian institutions should not be geared toward war scenarios.

The BSW wants to keep the Bundeswehr as a volunteer army and rejects a return to conscription. The force should serve only national and alliance defense and be used at home only in cases such as natural disasters. In the party's view, security comes from diplomacy and de-escalation.

No one should be forced to serve in the army. The Bundeswehr should only defend the country. It should not go into foreign wars. At home it should only help in disasters.

The platform supports a Germany able to defend itself but wants no offensive army and no participation in international wars. It rejects deployments inside the country, except for purposes such as protection during natural disasters. Internal security is the job of the police and civilian authorities, it says. In the party's view, mixing the two tasks violates the principle of separation and weakens democratic oversight.