In terms of declarations, the impression is to witness a deluge of aid, military and civilian, coming from all sides. But when you take a closer look at the numbers, the reality is not so rosy.
Which countries have been the most generous towards Ukraine since the outbreak of hostilities? What types of support were provided? And what do these efforts represent in relation to the economic potential of donor countries?
“Fortunately the United States is here”
It is to all these questions that the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IFW) has tried to answer by setting up a monitoring instrument that brings together all this information. A work that aroused the interest of the Corriere della Serawhich summarizes the figures observed by a lapidary formula: “luckily the United States is there”.
Indeed, the count made by the German institute leaves no room for interpretation. Since January 24 – a month before the start of the conflict – Washington has provided 52 billion in aid to kyiv, against just over 29 for the countries of the Old Continent (including EU aid).
And in the last analyzed period, “from August 4 to October 3, the United States made new commitments of 12 billion euros, while the EU plus European countries [c’est-à-dire les 27 États membres, plus le Royaume-Uni, la Suisse et la Norvège] increased their contribution by only 1.4 billion”, criticizes the Milanese daily.
A deviation also regretted by Christoph Trebesch, head of this research project at the IFW, whose comment on this subject is reported by the Italian media:
“This is a poor performance for major European countries, especially since many of their pledges arrive in Ukraine with long delays.”
If Trebesch limits his criticism to “major European countries”, it is that certain “small templates” of the Old continent provide a considerable effort if one compares the aid promised with their economic capacities.
The proof is,the four European countries that provide the most aid to kyiv, in terms of percentage of their GDP, are Latvia and Estonia [presque 1 % de leur PIB engagé]Poland and Lithuania”, notes the centrist newspaper, which sees there the symbol of“a new geopolitical map of the democratic world” leaning significantly towards the east.
“The UK is not the champion of aid to Ukraine”
Because on the western side of Europe, see The Economistwho has also taken an interest in the work of the IFW, the large states are so far less generous.
Thereby, “with a commitment equivalent to 0.24% of its GDP, the United Kingdom is not really the champion of aid to Ukraine that it claims to be”, criticizes the economic weekly, even if London can console itself by looking at what other European heavyweights are doing. With respectively 0.17% of its GDP committed to Germany, and 0.15% to France and Italy, the three most populous countries in the EU do not shine in this ranking.
Certainly, tempers the British media, “European states claim that they provide other forms of aid, in particular through the care of 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees. But again, the heaviest burden falls on the countries bordering kyiv.”
Indeed, by calculating an average cost of €500 per month and per person, the IFW shows that a country like Poland (the one that has received the most Ukrainians since the start of the Russian invasion) spends 0, 71% of its GDP for refugees, while the reception of these people weighs only 0.08% of the GDP of Germany or 0.01% of the GDP of the United Kingdom.
Verdict for The Economist : the Old Continent as a whole must do more for kyiv, because, after all, in this war, “it is the security of Europe which is most seriously threatened”.