Ukraine: Federal government doubles military aid to eight billion

According to a media report, the federal government is doubling military aid for Ukraine. As “Bild am Sonntag” reported, citing circles in the Federal Ministry of Defense, the traffic light coalition agreed to increase support from four to eight billion euros.

With the additional spending, Germany is exceeding NATO’s two percent target: According to ministry calculations mentioned by “Bams”, defense spending amounts to 2.1 percent of gross domestic product.

Defense Ministry remains silent on Ukraine aid

According to “Bams” information, the Bundestag’s budget committee is expected to initiate the additional spending next week. A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Defense did not want to comment on the report when asked by AFP, citing the ongoing budget negotiations.

In February 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) formulated the goal of permanently achieving the two percent target in the Bundestag.

At the beginning of November, Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) again demanded that there must be “a permanent reflection” of the two percent target in the regular state budget beyond the 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr that was launched in 2022.

SPD budget expert Andreas Schwarz told “Bams” that the decision to increase military aid for Ukraine was “right and important”. This means that Germany’s “promise to Ukraine will be backed up with the necessary money.” Exceeding the two percent target was “a great success for the traffic light.”