2024-08-22 13:02:40
The possible reduction in German aid to Ukraine could push the traffic light coalition straight into the next crisis. SPD man Michael Roth has sharply criticized the considerations and there is also unrest within the Green Party base.
The next traffic light dispute is just around the corner: around 150 Green Party members have written an open letter to their party leadership. In it, they demand that military support for Ukraine be ensured. “The consequences of the budget agreement on the purchase of weapons and ammunition for Ukraine will have an immediate impact on the course of the war and weaken the Ukrainian army,” it says, as reported by the “Tagesspiegel”.
“The message of the agreement makes it seem as if the German debt brake is more important than the life and survival of an attacked European nation,” the authors continue to criticize. Among the signatories are well-known older Greens such as Rebecca Harms, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Ralf Fücks and Marieluise Beck, who are considered to be part of the party’s realpolitik wing. And it is not only the Greens who are speaking out.
Previously, SPD politician Michael Roth had already sharply criticized the possible cuts in aid to Ukraine. “It is a fatal signal from the federal government to Ukraine if no further funds for new military aid are planned in the future federal budgets,” Roth told the Funke media group.
The background to his statement is a letter from Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens). The letter states: “New measures” may only be taken if “funding is secured” in the budget plans for this and the coming years. In addition: “Please ensure that the upper limits are adhered to.” Only on Friday did the traffic light leaders announce their budget compromise after a long struggle. Read more about it here.
According to reports, part of the compromise was that Germany’s commitment to Ukraine would be reduced. Instead, Ukraine would be supported more in the future with the help of interest from frozen Russian state assets.
Michael Roth, chairman of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, does not think that is enough. The 50 billion dollars from a G7 aid fund, which is also to be filled with interest from frozen assets, is “far from enough,” he says. He has worked hard to ensure that not only the interest income, but all of the frozen Russian state assets in Europe are made available to Ukraine.
Roth says: “The Ukrainian army is on the offensive again for the first time in months, and the country now needs the full support of its most important military ally in Europe, Germany. Instead, the debate about the future financing of military aid seems like a disguised retreat by Germany from responsibility. We cannot make our security dependent on budgetary constraints.”