German government faces harsh criticism over cuts in aid to Ukraine
Date: 2024-08-20 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WORLD
German politicians are criticizing the government over Finance Minister Christian Lindner's call to veto new military aid for Ukraine.
According to the Financial Times, Germany is the country's largest military donor after the United States. This year alone, it will provide military aid worth about 7.5 billion euros. "Pressure on the budget means that this figure will be reduced: the government's draft budget for 2025 provides for the allocation of 4 billion euros," the journalists note.
On August 19, the government denied an immediate reduction in aid to Ukraine, noting that discussions on funding were still ongoing. Meanwhile, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under increasing pressure and is trying to calm members of the Social Democratic Party, who are critical of further aid to Ukrainians.
The chairman of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee, Social Democrat Michael Roth, called the decision to reduce aid "a fatal signal." "The Ukrainian army has returned to the offensive for the first time in months. The country now needs the full support of its most important military ally in Europe: Germany. But the debate about future funding for military aid looks like a disguised abdication of responsibility from Germany. We cannot make our security dependent on budgetary restrictions," he said indignantly.
The chairman of the Germany-Ukraine parliamentary group, Green Party politician Robin Wagener, also criticized the idea: "It seems that we are talking about sacrificing peace and freedom, but remaining debt-free."
Former Colonel Roderich Kiesewetter, who is a member of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, says that the restrictions "de facto mean that Ukraine will be abandoned." "No self-proclaimed leading country in Europe acts like this," he told Der Tagesspiegel.
