Germany Singlehandedly Pays for ‘Half’ of All EU Aid to Ukraine, Minister Reveals
200 euro banknotes being printed. File photo.
Officially, Germany has spent about €17.1 billion (US$18.7 Bln) on military assistance to Kiev for NATO’s ongoing proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, with an additional €3.83 billion (US$4.2 Bln) committed to economic and humanitarian assistance. Unofficially, the figure may be over three times that.German assistance to Ukraine through European Union institutions accounts for “half” of the bloc’s total assistance to Kiev, and its time for other EU members to pick up the slack, Finance Minister Christian Lindner has revealed.“At the moment, Germany pays for half of all EU aid to Ukraine. We accept the responsibility because we know what’s at stake,” Lindner said at a recent meeting of the Free Democratic Party – one of the members of Chancellor Scholz’s Traffic Light coalition.But “it should not happen that Germany does more so that others can do too little,” Lindner added, without naming the countries he thinks aren’t pulling their weight.Lindner’s comments offer important clues regarding the true extent of German involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, revealing Berlin’s stake to be much larger than previously assumed.According to the latest figures from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Germany committed some €20.93 billion ($22.9 billion) in military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine between January 2022 and the end of October 2023.© Photo : Kiel Institute for the World EconomyKiel Institute for the World Economy’s ‘Ukraine Support Tracker’, showing the amount of military, economic and humanitarian assistance doled out to Ukraine by Western countries.
Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s ‘Ukraine Support Tracker’, showing the amount of military, economic and humanitarian assistance doled out to Ukraine by Western countries.At the same time, the Institute’s figures showed that ‘EU institutions’ committed some €84.84 billion ($92.9 billion) in aid to Kiev over the same period.If, as Mr. Lindner says, Germany has financed “half” of EU institutions’ assistance, on top of the €20.93 billion sent directly, that would mean German taxpayers have been made to shell out roughly €42.5 billion ($46.5 billion) in additional cash for Kiev. That’s more than double the official bilateral support figure, and adds up to some €63.35 billion in total aid, or close to a third of all NATO expenditures on the proxy war over the past two years.German citizens and companies have suffered perhaps more than any other major European power over their government’s decision to toe the line on the crisis in relations with Russia over Ukraine, overpaying tens of billions of euros for energy, slipping in and out of recession, facing serious inflationary and price pressures, and seeing industries leave the country for places where energy is cheaper and tax breaks more lucrative – like the United States. Furthermore, independent US investigators believe Washington had a hand in the September 2022 attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline network – which played a key role in ensuring Germany’s energy security. However, the government in Berlin has shied away from a thorough investigation into the act of sabotage which might implicate its ‘ally.’
WorldTractors Block Roads in Germany as Farmers Protest Fuel Tax Hike8 January, 10:57 GMTGerman opposition leaders have attributed the government’s willingness to continue supporting NATO’s approach to Ukraine and Russia in spite of the country’s economic and security interests to its ruling politicians’ “spinelessness.” The latest opinion polling has found that only a third of Germans currently support the parties of the ruling Traffic Light coalition, with 31 percent preferring the opposition Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union alliance, 23 percent showing a preference for the populist right Alternative for Germany, 4 percent for socialist The Left, and between 6 and 14 percent for former Left lawmaker Sahra Wagenknecht and her new populist left party – the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance.Under political threat from both the right and the left, Chancellor Scholz has taken the only strategy he feels remains viable – blaming Vladimir Putin for Germany’s economic woes.
WorldOver 60% of Germans Want to Replace German Chancellor Scholz – Poll7 January, 18:43 GMT
