The wrangling over Ukraine aid in the federal budget has consequences: Germany’s partners doubt the value of the government’s oaths of loyalty in Berlin, says security expert Christian Mölling.
According to security expert Christian Mölling, the budget dispute in the federal government has massively weakened confidence in the reliability of German aid to Ukraine. Mölling says in star– “The situation – international”: “What the federal government needs to take notice of is that many, almost everyone, believe that it is capable of pulling the plug.” The research director of the German Council on Foreign Relations criticizes Germany for not promising that there would be no “stalling” of support: “The whole fuss would have been different if it had been said that we would pay in any case, even if the structure with the interest income did not work.”
“Extremely large damage to the corridor”
This planned financing of aid through interest on Russian assets frozen in the West is good in principle, but it is a technocratic solution and no one knows if and when it will work. “The problem is: no one has the money yet, and the structure of how it will be given to Ukraine is not yet entirely clear,” says Mölling. “This idea has backfired on Germany so much that the damage it has caused internationally is extremely great.”
A great deal of uncertainty has arisen not only for Ukraine, but also for the arms industry, which needs reliability in order to expand its capacities. Mölling refers to the fact that future budgets only contain the money for aid that has already been promised, but not for new deliveries. These are to be made possible in particular through a loan from the major western industrial nations to Ukraine, which in turn will be paid off and repaid with the interest on Russian assets.
“Do we stand with Ukraine or not?”
In addition, says Mölling, the volume of aid sought by Germany and its partners through interest income of 50 billion dollars is ultimately not particularly large. “50 billion sounds great at first,” admits Mölling. But when you consider the time periods and the actors involved, it is not particularly much.
Ultimately, it is about much more than just a few billion in the coming budget. “The political core is the question: Do we stand by Ukraine or not?” says Mölling in the star– . In this debate, it is important that the aid is not just about Ukraine, but also about Germany’s security. This is often neglected, and not everyone in the governing parties has recognized that Russia is an imperialist power. He warns against acting as if the threat from Russia can be fended off without consequences for prosperity. “That is the welcome lie,” he says. “But it is easy to tell this lie, which is why everyone tells it.”
Source: Stern
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