Bonn's Defense Angst

...Nevertheless, the Christian Democrats have not given up on winning the Free Democrats as partners in a new government, or at least inducing them to quit the present one and force Schmidt to call an election...

...Schmidt's followers favored few cuts and more taxes, while the Left-wing of his SPD-already causing trouble by questioning nato's planned deployment of new medium-range " theater" nuclear missiles) clamored for no cuts and an increase in levies...

...THE FOCUS IN WEST GERMANY Bonn's Defense Angst BY ELIAHU SALPETER Nuremberg With a happiness one might exhibit at finding a mislaid pair of comfortable old shoes, West German youths, Leftists and self-styled activists have seized upon the neutron bomb issue to revive their anti-American campaign...

...The Opposition Christian Democrats (CD) advocated cutbacks, particularly in administrative and public welfare expenditures...

...Since then, countries such as Belgium and Denmark have found excuses for not living up to the agreement...

...The Free Democrats urged some taxation and some retrenchment...

...Even before they began, it was widely agreed that the projected deficit of 26 billion marks($11.4billion)ina budget of 241 -243 billion marks ($105.7-$106.6 billion) was "unacceptable," that expenditures and revenues had to be made roughly equal...

...Yet in the flood of disputes concerning the "austerity budget" and its implications, barely any protests could be heard against saving marks at the expense of arms, ammunition and overall military preparedness...

...instead, it appears to be accentuating a resigned attitude toward Soviet pressure...

...Officials here are busy explaining that their financial plans do not automatically translate into reduced defense capabilities...

...Their view seemed to gain credence earlier this month when Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr.'s appearance in West Berlin to rally support for the Reagan Administration's policies inspired a large, hostile demonstration sponsored by the youth wings of the SPD and its coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party (FDP...

...The commitment was seen as the key to an Allied effort aimed at reducing the Soviet preponderance in conventional weapons...

...Another is the difference between actual economic and political conditions and the picture being drawn by the politicians and the media...

...there are good historic reasons for concern in each case...

...Since the SPD's youth and women's organizations have taken a strong stand against the neutron bomb, many observers see the Chancellor facing a difficult uphill struggle, if not a rearguard action for a lost cause...

...Prior to last year's national elections, the FDP decided to stick with the SPD regardless of whether the coaliton won or lost...

...Finally, a Cabinet decision was reached to cope with a little over half of the anticipated shortfall by eliminating select services and adding revenues, mainly through a tobacco excise tax...

...Because of the size and quality of its contribution, and as an impetus to Continental nato members, Bonn's adherence to the guidelines has been of paramount importance...

...who can't afford journeys abroad, were now spending less on their usual traveling inside the country...

...gasoline, 20 per cent...

...others-notably the United States, Canada, and West Germany-have fulfilled their promises...

...Moreover, they argue, after years of serious military spending, whatever deficiencies do develop can be rectified in the following fiscal year...

...Or, it may be a reflection of fear, more fancily called "angst syndrome...

...Clearly worried that this latest flareup could develop into a full-fledged pacifist offensive and wreak havoc on nato, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt joined the battle with the leaders of his ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) who have been echoing anti-bomb slogans...

...But the ramifications of the budgetary turmoil go beyond domestic economic policy...

...West German relations with the United States have also been strained by the budget issue...

...And current SPD-FDP differences on the question of more taxes or less welfare involve the kind of fundamental divergence of socialist and liberal principles that has in the past shattered political alliances in Europe...

...For although the '82 budget includes a 4 per cent increase in defense outlays, inflation next year will almost surely reach (and possibly exceed) this figure, leaving real defense expenditures unchanged or perhaps slightly below the present level...

...Still, compared to the rest of Western Europe, the relevant figures are hardly frightening...

...Then, with everybody screaming bloody murder, the Cabinet postponed further deliberation on the budget, confident that the complaints from all quarters were proof of an equitable arrangement...

...Thus, the controversy whirled around how to achieve a balance...

...True, in the pubs you will hear complaints that these averages do not show the specific increases over a year ago...

...The furor over the neutron bomb notwithstanding, most citizens remain strongly anti-Communist and extremely aware of the threat of Soviet aggression...

...When General Haig was nato Commander in Brussels, one of his major achievements was laying the groundwork for a 1977 Western Summit decision that all nato members would increase their defense allotments by 3 per cent annually (in real terms...

...This month, the budget was in fact adopted...

...One could debate endlessly whether the citizenry is worried more about inflation or unemployment...

...But now the Federal Republic seems poised to default on its pledge...

...At the same time, during a television appearance where he reaffirmed his support for the weapon (considered especially suited to defending the Federal Republic against the Soviet Union's overwhelming superiority in armor), he felt constrained to assure listeners that Bonn had no immediate intention of deploying it...

...Thesurgein "anti-militaristic" sentiment may simply be a recurrence of the hostility toward the United States that has surfaced here periodically at least from the days of the Vietnam War...

...Government spokesmen and even the press in many countries often proffer a rosier state of affairs than reality warrants, but the reverse tends to be the case in West Germany...

...haircuts, 10 per cent...

...People have plenty of money in their pockets, however, despite their apprehensions about tomorrow...

...The argument is less than convincing in a technical sense, and it certainly minimizes any political and psychological effects: If rich and stable West Germany (situated directly on the great divide) can decide to be "flexible" toward its nato commitments, surely the message to Western European nations with economies in far worse shape will be clear...

...From the numerous "Room Available" signs it was apparent that lower income families...

...Unemployment stands at 4.6 per cent-half the British jobless rate, for example...

...Most of the spick-and-span cars were recent models...

...There is money for travel, too, an activity West Germans relish...

...Heated arguments over the 1982 "austerity budget" have constituted the official manifestation of the Federal Republic's economic "difficulties...

...and on an annual basis the Cost of Living Index has risen 5.6 per cent-far less than in any country on the western part of the Continent, except Switzerland...

...Interestingly, a recent report revealed that after President Carter dropped his plan to produce the neutron bomb in the late '70s, the Kremlin credited his reversal to Western European resistance-and awarded a special medal to the Soviet ambassador in Holland for mobilizing that opposition...

...For week upon week in July and August this was the center of public attention as newspapers and television reports highlighted conflicting proposals...

...Eliahu Salpeter, a regular NL contributor, is a correspondent for Ha'aretz, one of the leading newspapers in Israel...

...Banter about buying a villa on the Swiss border and gossip about millionaires who have already transferred fortunes to America can be heard regularly when having drinks or dinner in respectable middle-class company...

...This contrast between a fear of Russian might and an unwillingness to pay the price of countering it is only one of several evident contradictions to a visitor these days...

...In fact, fear of a Soviet invasion is much more prevalent in West Germany, particularly in the areas nearest East Germany and Czechoslovakia, than either its inhabitants or the government like to admit...

...electricity, 12 per cent...

...The shops were all crowded for the end of summer sales, and a brisk turnover was reported of higher-priced, top quality merchandise...

...Rarely, though, does the present anxiety prompt the suggestion that greater sacrifices must be made for national defense...

...Or else, it may be a consequence of Moscow's skillful exploitation of both the angst and the anti-Americanism...

...Only when moving away from the main highways into such picturesque places as the mountain villages of Bavaria, where every other house is a hostelry or restaurant, did one notice a decline in vacationing...

...The Opposition is eager to take advantage of any sign of disenchantment on the part of the FDP, whose support Schmidt needs to maintain a parliamentary majority...

...Left unclear is what the defense cutback indicates about the worries and priorities of the West German taxpayer (or about perceptions of the electorate among Bonn politicians...

...food, 25 per cent...

...During the summer weekends, the roads to Austria, Switzerland and Italy had 10-mile backups...