The head of German diplomacy, Annalena Berbock, called yesterday Sunday for the immediate approval of a package of military equipment worth 3 billion. euros to be handed over by her country to Ukraine before the early parliamentary elections on 23 February in Germany.
Ms Burbok told public broadcaster ARD that she hoped the budget committee would finalize its approval within this week.
“The Russian president does not give a damn about the fact that we are in an election campaign and we are heading for early elections”, flew Germany’s foreign minister, referring to the war in Ukraine.
Her demand that this arms package be approved immediately has sparked a conflict between Minister Burbock, who belongs to the Green party, and Chancellor Olaf Solz of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Mr. Soltz countered that the package would only be approved if the so-called debt brake, which provides for strict borrowing limits, is suspended to make it easier to find financing.
But Mrs Burbok and the Greens, as well as the Free Democrats (FDP) and the centre-right Christian Union (CDU/CSU), argue that it is possible to finance this package by invoking the necessary “extraordinary expenses”.
“I would still be in favor if everyone agreed to a resolution on loan financing,” Solz said on German television late Wednesday night.
Right-wing parties such as the Christian Democratic Union and the fiscally conservative Free Democratic Party favor aid to Ukraine, but are generally against loosening the constitutional “debt brake” of Germany – which limits the structural budget deficit to 0.35% of gross domestic product, except in times of emergency – creating a conflict over how to finance aid.
Solz now wants parliament to declare a state of emergency so that aid to Ukraine can be financed with additional borrowing. In his election campaign, the chancellor has repeatedly argued that using regular budget spending would mean helping Ukraine at the expense of the German welfare system and pensions.
Solz’s critics are fighting back.
The chancellor’s last request “apparently used as an excuse not to help Ukraine”, said the CDU’s senior parliamentary representative Juergen Hart. “The fact that the chancellor seriously claimed during the election campaign that money would otherwise have to be taken from German pensioners can hardly be surpassed in audacity.”
Hart argued that paying interest on the new debt is what will really hit the German taxpayer, as will “failure” in Ukraine, an outcome he said would end up being “more expensive and worse for the economy ».
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