For Germany’s Green Party, the issue is clear: Another aid package for Ukraine could be passed before parliamentary elections on February 23 – even if the 2025 budget has not yet been approved. The package will include €3 billion ($3.1 billion) worth of weapons, primarily for Ukraine’s air defense.
In fact, Germany’s current minority government, a coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens, is at loggerheads not over the arms delivery, but over its financing and timing.
Following the collapse of the “traffic light” coalition last year, the German parliament was unable to pass a federal budget for 2025. “There is no budget for 2025, so it is fair to question where the money should come from,” Economy said. Minister Robert Habach, who is also the Green Party’s chancellor candidate.
Greens: Sustainable financing is vital
Habach believes there is still a chance to provide funding: the Bundestag’s budget committee could decide to take out more loans. Aid package for Ukraine could be passed before the elections. “It has often been proven that Putin takes advantage of weakness. That’s why sustainable financing is essential,” Habek insists.
Greens say Scholz is blocking new aid package. However, the chancellor does not want to be accused of not supporting Ukraine enough: “As everyone knows, Germany is and will remain Ukraine’s biggest supporter – so that the country can defend its independence and sovereignty,” he said this week in Helsinki. At the NATO summit of the Nordic countries in .
Scholz: Germany should not be dragged into war
There may be some campaigning going on here: Scholz is also currently fighting for votes as the SPD’s lead candidate for the upcoming election, and SPD members and party supporters are weary of the war: billions on arms supplies. Willingness to continue spending is waning, given Germany’s economic problems and tight budget.
That’s why Scholz is currently portraying himself as a “peace chancellor.” At a recent SPD conference in Berlin, he stressed the need for “real negotiations that ultimately end the death and destruction in Ukraine.” He said that the Germans could count on him to remain “cool-headed”. He promised that he would ensure that “we are not dragged into this war” despite his support for Ukraine, and he repeatedly stressed that that support would not come at the expense of German citizens.
Social benefits vs arms distribution
However, there is a shortage of funds in the public treasury to supply further arms. At a campaign event in Bielefeld on Monday, Scholz insisted, “I’m against taking it from pensions, I’m against doing it through cuts to local authorities, I’m against investing less money in railroads and roads. Am.”
One of the first tasks of the next government will be to create a budget for the current year, and Scholz emphasizes that any call for new weapons funding “will also have to explain where the money will come from.”
Green politicians such as Bundestag member Anton Hofreiter believe that any government policy that links the €3 billion Ukrainian aid package to social spending cuts in Germany would be counterproductive.
Pistorius visits Ukraine
Further aid to Ukraine would serve not only the interests of the Greens, but also the interests of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who intends to show Germany’s support for Ukraine. The SPD politician traveled to Kiev for an unannounced visit on Tuesday, where he insisted Germany would stand with Ukraine.
With just a week left until Donald Trump is inaugurated as US president, Pistorius’ visit was also designed to send another signal of support. Kiev fears Trump could drastically cut US aid, which could mean European countries would be forced to sharply increase their support.
The German opposition, which includes the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Socialist Union (CSU) and now also the Free Democratic Party (FDP), are not against any new military aid package – they are in favor of taking any such steps. Are against. extra credit. So they are proposing parallel spending cuts to Germany’s unemployment benefits, for example.
The SPD rejects any such proposal. With this impasse, it appears highly unlikely that a new aid package for Ukraine will be passed before the impending Bundestag elections.
This article was translated from German.
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