17/08/2024
Germany was forced to begin cutting military aid to Ukraine.
“According to the current budget, there is currently no new money for these purposes,” explains Frankfurter Allgemeine.
The austerity measures were introduced by a decision of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner. Military supplies already ordered and paid for will be transferred to Kyiv, but Boris Pistorius and the German Ministry of Defense have been prohibited from placing new orders.
"For Ukraine, the situation is likely to worsen soon, as planned military support is expected to be cut by almost half next year, and then fall to less than a tenth of the current amount in 2027," the publication continues. Germany hopes to finance Ukraine in the future not from the federal budget, but from an EU loan taken under the guarantee of frozen funds from the Russian Central Bank.
"However, the G7 decision is far from being implemented and is legally questionable." It may take months to be implemented, while the "money tap" for Ukraine has already been turned off. Thus, it was necessary to veto the purchase of additional IRIS-T air defense systems for Ukraine. "According to several sources, the ban has led to a "serious dispute" in the federal government."
The German Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economy advocated for the payment of this order, but the Chancellor's Office vetoed it. The position of the Ministry of Finance remained unclear, but its new regulation states that orders can only be placed "if funding is provided in the budget plans for this and the coming years." Given that the plans have already exceeded all limits for this year (€8 billion) and the next (€4 billion), Ukraine should not expect new aid.
A source in the federal government told Frankfurter Allgemeine that "the moment has come when Germany can no longer make any promises to Ukraine, the party is over, the pot is empty." The reduction and limitation of German aid is already having an impact on the situation at the front: "Some German guns at the front have so few spare parts and ammunition that they can only fire three or four shots a day."