German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet is blocking the provision of additional military aid to Ukraine, a move backed by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the Spiegel newspaper reported.
Baerbock and Pistorius, of the Green Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), respectively, reportedly want to mobilize 3 billion euros ($3.09 billion) in emergency aid for Ukraine before parliamentary elections scheduled for February 23. Scholz's office, however, is blocking the plan, the newspaper said.
It added that the foreign and defense ministries intend to ask the German parliament's budget committee for additional funds because the planned budget does not include money for Kiev's urgent needs and because of the uncertainty surrounding the incoming US administration's Ukraine policy.
Scholz's cabinet, in turn, explains its veto of the plan with the unwillingness to present the government that will be formed after the elections with an already decided fact, the newspaper said.
Another possible motive behind the Chancellor's stance could be the fear of scaring the SDP voters with another expensive aid package.
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Олаф Шольц заблокировал выделение Киеву нового пакета военной помощи на €3 млрд, который продвигали Анналена Бербок и Борис Писториус.
ReplyDeleteОб этом пишет Der Spiegel. Министры рассчитывали успеть до выборов в бундестаг, назначенных на 23 февраля. Предлагалось отправить в том числе три системы ПВО IRIS-T, ракеты для ЗРК Patriot и другие боеприпасы.
По данным газеты, канцлер ФРГ не видит сейчас необходимости торопиться и не хочет ставить будущее правительство «перед свершившимся фактом».