2024-08-24 18:45:32
Germany is an important supporter of Ukraine in its defensive struggle against Russia. In the future, however, less money will probably come from the federal budget – and more from another source.
According to a media report, the German government will not release any additional funds for military support for Ukraine for the time being. This is what the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) writes, citing a letter from Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) dated August 5. The letter is also available to the German Press Agency. Instead, the plan is that Ukraine – as decided by the G7 states – can also be supported in the future with the help of interest from frozen Russian state assets. At the same time, however, the Finance Ministry is willing to talk.
The Finance Ministry said: “In principle, however, all decisions to support Ukraine are made in close coordination with the Federal Chancellery.” A spokesman for the Federal Press Office stressed with regard to the FAS report that “no statement had been made as to whether the facts were correct or not.” The Defense Ministry merely referred to the Finance Ministry and the Federal Chancellery.
Minister Lindner’s letter states that “new measures” may only be taken if “funding is secured” in the budget plans for this and the coming years. He also says: “Please ensure that the upper limits are adhered to.” The letter is addressed to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens). CDU budget politician Ingo Gädechens told the FAS: “From one day to the next, Olaf Scholz and his traffic light coalition are freezing financial and thus military support for Ukraine.”
The first government draft for the 2025 federal budget, approved by the cabinet in July, provided for 4 billion euros for aid to Ukraine, which is said to have not changed with the new budget compromise agreed on Friday.
“This amount is intended primarily for measures related to military support for Ukraine,” explained the spokesman for the Federal Press Office. He also referred to the decision of the G7 summit in Italy in June, according to which Ukraine should be provided with around 50 billion US dollars in support by the end of the year, including using interest from frozen Russian state assets. The Finance Ministry said: “This means that in the future, bilateral aid from Germany will be partially transferred to international programs.”
At the same time, Lindner’s ministry was willing to talk. “The Federal Ministry of Finance is nevertheless prepared to examine the short-term provision of additional funds. However, the additional requirements must be specifically reported and comprehensible in order to comply with all budgetary rules and to be able to ask the German Bundestag for approval on this basis.” And further: “The Federal Ministry of Finance has not yet received any specific notification of requirements for this. Therefore, neither an examination nor a decision can be made.” The ministry is thus passing the ball back to the Ministry of Defense.
FDP budget politician Karsten Klein promised: “The West and thus also Germany as the largest European contributor will not let up in its support for Ukraine.” This will be kept in mind during the budget discussions.
Green Party parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann demanded: “Ukraine clearly needs our continued full solidarity and support. The necessary financial resources must be made available for this.”
The federal government had already planned to spend 4 billion euros on military support for Ukraine this year, but the Bundestag had increased this amount to almost 7.5 billion euros. A member of the budget committee, who did not want to be named, does not see this amount of leeway again. “The budget no longer has any leeway because we still have to close other gaps in the parliamentary process,” he said. “There will be no more billion-dollar shifts in the Bundestag – unless we see significantly better economic development in the autumn and thus higher tax revenues than we can currently predict.”