Germany’s budget for next year lacks 5 billion euros for military aid to Ukraine - media
According to Censor.NET, citing European Pravda, the German publication Bild writes about this.
As the publication explains, military support for Ukraine is paid from the "general financial management" budget, and the German Ministry of Finance has allocated €4 billion to help Ukraine in 2024.
Of this amount, €3.1 billion is planned for previously promised aid measures, and €770 million is reserved for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its assistance. Thus, only €120 million will be left for new military projects in 2024.
But Ukraine's needs, according to the German Ministry of Defence, are much higher. Kyiv expects additional support from Germany worth €5.22 billion to help Ukraine withstand Russian aggression.
The Ministry of Defence has calculated how much money should be allocated and for what: €880 million for air defence; €675 million for armoured combat vehicles; €390 million for engineering activities; €935 million for protective equipment; €2.34 billion for repairs, spare parts and logistics.
The budget also does not include €525 million to replace the material transferred to the Bundeswehr.
The budget for 2024 will be finally approved in mid-November. Negotiations on it will continue until then.
"We must keep our word. We should not run out of money when it comes to helping Ukraine next year. Finance Minister Lindner is obliged to provide additional billions in aid to Ukraine before the budget is finalised. Ukraine must be able to rely on Germany's promises," commented Andreas Schwarz, a member of the ruling SPD, who is responsible for the defence budget in the budget committee.
