Bundestag member Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU) immediately called for even more money for rearmament in the form of a higher “special fund”.

"It's completely clear that we need 300 billion instead of 100 billion so that the Bundeswehr becomes combat-ready," he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Tuesday. It must also be ensured that this money is not “misused” to plug budget holes. Of course, he wants to stick to the two percent target set by NATO in parallel with the special fund: "This is only possible with re-prioritization and clear structural reforms."

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr said: “If we succeed in generating more growth, we will be able to invest more money in defense on a long-term basis.” That has already worked in the past: “The Cold War was there back then too won because the West was economically much stronger. We must therefore do everything we can to become competitive again.«

Andreas Schwarz (SPD) advocated in the SZ for permanently excluding defense spending from the so-called debt brake: "Excluding all defense costs from the debt brake would definitely be attractive." In this context, he particularly emphasized civil protection: "We need much more cyber defense , bunkers, mobile operating rooms, hospital supplies.«

Another Social Democrat has the home front in mind: The federal military commissioner, Eva Högl, wants a “serious and open discussion of concrete ideas and concepts” on the subject of compulsory military service, as she wrote in a guest article for the Table Media portal published on Monday. She suggested the formation of a "citizens' council" and suggested a "social year" based on the Swedish model, because "everyone should get involved in our society for a while." In order to make “the Bundeswehr omnipresent” and anchor it “firmly in the middle of our society,” “all young people should receive mail from the Bundeswehr once,” because “then everyone would actively engage with the Bundeswehr.”

Katarina Barley, SPD top candidate for the European elections. In an interview with the Tagesspiegel published on Tuesday, she expressed the view that the EU nuclear bomb could become an issue "on the way to a European army."

In light of Barley's comments, Fabio De Masi, the EU's leading candidate for the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht party, called for the European elections to be a "vote on this madness." Janine Wissler, co-chair of the Left Party, explained the demands of Kiesewetter and Barley: "The rearmament fantasies of Ampel and the CDU have apparently lost all measure." In this context, she also spoke out in favor of a "special fund," "but not for new weapons , but for a sustainable country with good schools, roads and rails."

The PdA was founded in 2013. It went back to the Communist Initiative (KI), which, according to its own statements, was formed in January 2005 as a "collective movement of Marxist-Leninist forces outside the KPÖ" after many years of factional struggle.

The party conference began on Saturday morning with a series of reports, including those from secretary Mathias Schneider and the international commission. Party leader Zenker's political summary focused a lot on the social emergency: "At the national level, the inflation crisis has had a full impact. Certainly, in a networked, internationalized economy, all countries have been affected in one form or another by rising inflation," he explained: "But it is astonishing: within the EU or the Eurozone, the inflation rate in Austria was one of the highest – and this in a constant way.«

He summarized the party's development not uncritically: »The past term of office made progress. Of course, these may seem too small or too slow to some. It cannot be denied that certain difficulties and inadequacies have still not been resolved." In the jW conversation, he remained just as realistic: "Inadequacies" were mentioned and there was "a lot of optimism." The difficulty: “Too much work for too few people.” A ten-member board is supposed to lead the PdA into the new term of office. Zenker was unanimously re-elected. The former KPÖ chairman Otto Bruckner remains his deputy. Also represented on the board are the Lower Austrian local councilor Armin Kollarik and Moritz Pamminger as representatives of the youth front.

The PdA is also a founding member of the European Communist Action (EKA), led by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Internationally, the task is to strengthen “the Marxist-Leninist pole in the international communist movement.” Requests for solidarity went to the Communist Party of Venezuela, Cuba and Palestine. Greetings from the DKP, the Communist Organization (KO) and the KPD-East arrived from Germany.

As part of the party conference, a rally was also held to commemorate the Austrian Civil War, the 90th anniversary of which began on February 12th. Three army soldiers died on the outskirts of Linz. After the fighting, the Schutzbund member Anton Bulgari was executed. Bulgari Square, where the PdA held the anti-fascist commemoration, is named after him.

“After ten years, the party conference showed that the party is alive and developing,” emphasizes Zenker to jW. He emphasized several times that "many young comrades would take part in the development": "We are on the right path, even if it will not be easy." Shortly before the party congress, the PdA had achieved a respectable success. The communist list she supported received more than 1,300 votes in the labor chamber elections in the state of Tyrol - an increase of 400 votes compared to a previous list. A move-in was narrowly missed.

Despite narrowly missing the mandate, the PdA was still satisfied when asked by jW. Top candidate Tobia Carfora now wants to continue working: "Under difficult conditions, the Communist List was able to convince over a thousand Tyroleans of class struggle demands and Marxist-Leninist content." He sees this as a "great and important success."