Eastern German state premiers insist on fair investments in defense and infrastructure

Brandenburg's Minister-President Dietmar Woidke criticized the federal government for having so far failed to make transparent what exactly the money would be spent on. He brought along a photo of the Küstrin-Kietz Bridge to illustrate the backlog in renovation of cross-border connections to Poland. Woidke asked literally: "Wir wollen wissen: Welche Projekte sind für Ostdeutschland vorgesehen?" With a view to the lag in expansion of the Eastern Railway line toward Poland, he also said: "Es ist blamabel für uns".

According to the federal government, a total of 169 billion euros is to flow into the modernization and expansion of transport routes by 2029. The federal government's Commissioner for Eastern Germany, Elisabeth Kaiser, was present at the press conference and emphasized together with Wegner that investments in infrastructure in the East were necessary. Woidke demanded that one to two projects per federal state should be financed from the special fund, in principle in proportion to the population of the states.

The Küstrin-Kietz Bridge, which connects Brandenburg with Poland and went into operation in 2024, was awarded the German Bridge Construction Prize in 2025. It has two tracks, but on the German side the second track of the Eastern Railway connection is still missing. The bridge itself cost just under 100 million euros and stands as a symbol of the investment needs along the east-west axes. Woidke named the expansion of the Eastern Railway as a priority project for Brandenburg.

Defense and Infrastructure

Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder did not appear at the press conference of the eastern state premiers despite having announced he would, citing too many appointments on that day. He had previously met with the eastern state leaders on the same day, including to discuss defense projects in the states. In his argument, Schnieder pointed out that an efficient transport infrastructure has "essenzielle strategische Bedeutung für die Abschreckungs- und Verteidigungsfähigkeit der NATO und der EU". Germany has a logistics hub function to fulfill.

The eastern state premiers also called for the expansion of test centers for drones and stronger participation of the eastern federal states in arms and defense investments. "Auch hier muss es eine Entwicklung für ganz Deutschland geben," it was said from the round of state leaders. Woidke emphasized: "Jede Region muss faire und gerechte Chancen bekommen". The conference was intended to increase pressure on the federal government to distribute the funds from the special fund quickly and in a comprehensible manner.

Demands on the Federal Government

With their appearance at BER, the eastern state leaders also tied in the symbolism of the most important eastern German air traffic hub. Wegner pointed to the airport's role as an international hub and announced that "massive Investitionen" were planned there. Woidke, on the other hand, placed concrete projects in the foreground, above all the double-track expansion of the Eastern Railway to the Küstrin Bridge. This was intended to finally eliminate the bottleneck toward Poland that had existed for years.

Overall, the eastern state premiers did not demand more money alone, but above all more co-determination and clarity in the awarding of funds. They tied their demands to the security policy situation and to Germany's role within NATO and the EU. In doing so, they set the course for the upcoming deliberations on the use of the special fund in the coming weeks.

The Commissioner for Eastern Germany, Elisabeth Kaiser, expressed openness to the states' concerns. She pointed out that the federal government wanted to continue the talks with the states in order to ensure a balanced distribution of funds. Woidke announced that the eastern state premiers wanted to summarize their demands in a joint resolution and transmit them to the federal government. This was intended to maintain the pressure until concrete projects were named.