The issue of the safety of German gold reserves held abroad, and in peculiar in fresh York City, until late being mainly a subject of talks of the far-right organization and gold supporters, becomes the subject of public debate erstwhile Donald Trump resitted in the White House.
Bundesbank, a German central bank, has a second largest gold stock in the world, amounting to 3352 tons. 1 3rd of them are stored at the national Reserve Bank of fresh York for reasons dating back to the times of the Cold War and the monetary strategy created after planet War II. In the past, these resources were sometimes criticised, and the right-wing alternate for Germany (AfD) joined the appeals for a return of gold from Germany. The confrontations of U.S. president Donald Trump with his long-standing allies on trade and security, as well as his attacks on the national Reserve, have brought this subject to life in fresh weeks, and more popular voices have joined the debate. The German Taxation Union sent letters this week to the Bundesbank and the Ministry of Finance, calling them to return the gold stored in the United States. "Trump wants to control Fed, which would besides mean controlling German gold reserves in the US," said Reuters agency Michael Jaeger, Vice president of Taxpayers Federation. "It is our money that should be returned".
Markus Ferber, an influential associate of the European Parliament for the ruling leadership in Germany, said that the United States "is no longer as reliable a partner as it utilized to be." "Trump is unpredictable and it cannot be excluded that 1 day he will come up with creative ideas on how to treat abroad gold reserves," said Reuters. "Bundesbank gold reserves policy must reflect fresh geopolitical realities".
Public tv stations ZDF and ARD besides late aired programs asking about the safety of German gold in fresh York City. The Bundesbank stated that the fresh York national Reserve remains a "important retention place" for gold. "We have no uncertainty that we have a trustworthy and reliable partner at the fresh York Fed bank for storing our gold resources," said the central bank in consequence to a request from Reuters. The German Ministry of Finance sent Reuters’ inquiries on the substance to the German central bank, while stressing the independency of the Bundesbank.
The European Central Bank last week stressed its trust in the Fed as a credible partner. However, the frequent criticism of Fed Jerome Powell, whose word of office ends next year, raised any concerns about Fed's future independency and long-term commitments to partners.
Peter Boehringer, the originator of the ten-year gold campaign, and now MP AfD, stated that he felt justified by the fact that the issue of repatriation of gold reserves has now become the subject of discussions between the main media and another legislators. "When I started asking about gold, I was sold out as a conspiracy theorist," he said. "Today, after Trump, my concerns are widely shared."
Germany accumulated most of its gold during the export boom from 1950 to 1960. The key advantage of keeping any of the gold in fresh York during the Cold War was keeping it safe from Russia in case of invasion. Gold has besides strengthened the military alliance with the United States, which inactive have dozens of military bases around Germany, including the largest in Europe. When the russian Union ceased to exist, the Bundesbank brought 300 tons of gold from fresh York City in 2014–2017, claiming that it wanted to “rebuild assurance in its own country”.
However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting hidden threat to the remainder of Europe are likely to complicate Germany's geopolitical calculations again. For Ferber, this highlighted the request for greater diversification in respective possibly fresh locations. The German gold reserves are presently held at the Bundesbank office in Frankfurt, fresh York and the Bank of England in London. ‘In the case of gold reserves, diversification is crucial. It is never recommended to place all eggs in besides fewer baskets," Ferber said, without specifying where gold should be transported. Fritz Guentzler, a spokesperson for leadership in the German parliament, stated that there was no reason not to trust the national Reserve, but the Bundesbank should proceed to "regularly control the stocks" of gold. The Bundesbank reported that he regularly conducted example investigating and over the years controlled 13% of fresh York stock.
