“No New Money for Ukraine,” read the headline in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. This led to significant discord within a coalition already known for its conflicts. For months, the governing parties have been unable to finalize next year’s budget, while the upcoming state elections in the east loom over them like a dark cloud. VRT’s Germany expert Jeroen Reygaert and journalist and Germany expert Ulrike Nagel discuss these tensions.
Background ↴
A dispute has erupted within the German government over military aid to Ukraine. Liberal Finance Minister Christian Lindner has warned that, in principle, no additional funds are available this year for new, unplanned arms deliveries, as the government must tighten its belt. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) reacted with mixed feelings to that announcement. And the Greens, who are also part of the government, accused Minister Lindner of failing to understand the seriousness of the geopolitical threat. “Peace and freedom are being sacrificed to remain debt-free,” scoffed Green Party Bundestag member Robin Wagener.
A leaked letter from the German finance minister has cast doubt on further German aid to Ukraine. So far, Germany has been the second-largest provider of aid to Ukraine, after the U.S.
The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), which had access to the letter, emails, and other documents, reports that, according to Liberal Finance Minister Lindner, there is no more money available for new aid. The government, however, continues to emphasize that support will continue as usual.
New measures are only possible if funds are available in this year’s and next year’s budgets, Lindner reportedly wrote to the foreign and defense ministers earlier this month. And: “Please ensure that the upper limits are not exceeded.”
At this point, that would mean further aid is no longer possible. For this year, Germany is allocating eight billion euros in aid to Ukraine; in next year’s budget, that amount has been cut in half.
Parliament could still decide to increase that amount, however. That seems unlikely, though, because tough negotiations have already taken place regarding next year’s budget.
Spokespersons in Berlin did their best on Monday to quell the growing unease over the funding. According to them, Germany still stands firmly behind Ukraine, and Minister Lindner’s announcement has no impact on the amount of aid, but only on the method of financing. The Ministry of Finance stated that it expects the planned 50 billion credit line, as decided by the G7, to be available starting early next year. The Ministry of Defense also assured that it will always strive for “pragmatic solutions.”
The fact that the aid appears to be being scaled back has drawn criticism primarily toward Chancellor Scholz, including from within his own government. On the one hand, Scholz has always emphasized that Germany will support Ukraine for as long as necessary. On the other hand, he would like to present himself as a “peace chancellor” to Germans who are concerned that they are being drawn further and further into the war.
Elections are coming up next month in several eastern German states, and parties arguing that the money going to Ukraine would be better spent in Germany are polling strongly. But a government spokesperson denies that this is a factor. He calls the suggestion from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the opposition party, that Scholz wants to tighten the purse strings for this reason “scandalous.”
