Reforma Bundeswehry a stanowiska niemieckich partii politycznych w latach 1998-2002 : z czeskiego punktu widzenia

The article presents the attitudes of German political parties related to the reform of the Bundeswehr. The timeframe 1998-2002 is of special importance. The author has tried to show the foreign policy context of the German Armed Forces’ reform. Having defined the positions of political parties, five main areas of interest have been differentiated, as far as the future of the Bundeswehr is concerned – the main tasks, size, financial background, ways of recruitment and internal relations. Basing on the individual stages of the political cycle, the roles of SPD, CDU/CSU, FDP, Bündnis90/Grunen and PDS have been presented. In the final part of the article it has been stressed that any significant change of the reform could weaken the credibility and popularity among voters. The author states that at present the German government can afford for some time to reach even not popular decisions. The implementation of such steps (i.e. increase of defence expenditures) can be facilitated by the behind the scenes agreement with the strongest opposition coalition (CDU/CSU), because the SPD and CDU/CSU provide enough common space for agreement and compromise on the issue of the German Armed Forces’ reform.