The Christian Social Union (CSU) leader and Premier of the southern state of Bavaria, who is currently touring German bases in Kosovo as part of his election campaign, said that troop deployments abroad had over stretched the army. He ruled out any new international missions for the German armed forces in the near future.

'More money for the military' says Stoiber

Speaking from the German army headquarters in Prizren, Stoiber (photo) drove home the point by directing comments at the SPD about the lack of financial support for the army. He called for German military adventures overseas to receive adequate funding to continue their current missions.

The two-day 'meet and greet' tour of German bases across Kosovo is being used to 'familiarise' the CSU leader with the security situation in the Balkans.

After meeting Kosovar President Ibrahim Rugova and Michael Steiner, the UN administrator in the province, Stoiber will visit German troops in Macedonia.

Army issues come to the fore in election campaign

The two candidates for German Chancellor have both fired opening shots regarding the current and future use of the Bundeswehr in foreign conflicts in the race for the Bundestag .

Stoiber's comments follow current Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's lead by bringing up his own agenda regarding the use of German troops across the globe.

Schroeder was recently accused by the Bavarian Premier of overplaying the question of a possible war on Iraq as the election campaign began in earnest

The Chancellor (photo), who has already kicked off his election tour of German cities, declared at the SPD's official declaration rally that Germany would not support an American-led attack, either with cash or soldiers. Public opinion in Germany seems to be in favour of total abstinence from any involvement in conflict.

CSU leader criticises Chancellor's defence policies

Stoiber's comments, however, are barbed with references to the defence policies of the government. Chancellor Schroeder was responsible for the deployment of German troops in combat situations for the first time since the Second World War.

The accusations of spreading too few soldiers too thinly across the globe's trouble spots refers to the use of the German forces in Kosovo as part of the K-FOR peace keeping presence; Macedonia, Afghanistan, and in Dchibuti on the Horn of Africa as part of the war on terror's Operation Enduring Freedom.

German military resources have also been used as logistical and medical support in the first Gulf War in 1991 and in Somalia between 1993 and 1994.