War against Ukraine: Scholz wants to finance billions in Ukraine only through debt

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) only wants to agree to additional arms deliveries to Ukraine worth three billion euros before the federal election if they are financed by suspending the debt brake. The help is only possible through a separate loan, “because otherwise the money wouldn’t be there,” he said in an RTL interview.

Scholz had already made this suggestion in the traffic light negotiations on the 2025 budget, which ultimately caused the coalition to collapse. “I would still decide that now if everyone agreed to a resolution: We would finance this extra with loans.” But then “some people would have to jump over their shadow,” said the Chancellor. Anyone who doesn’t want that has to say where the missing funds should come from. Scholz put the hole in the 2025 budget, which has not yet been decided, at 26 billion euros.

In an interview with the “Westfälische Nachrichten” and the “Westfalen-Blatts”, Scholz specified that even if one assumes that experience shows that not all of the money is spent over the course of the year, there will probably still be a coverage gap of at least 16 billion euros. “If we now want to decide on a further three billion euros for bilateral arms aid for Ukraine, that would be a bad check.”

The FDP leader and former finance minister Christian Lindner categorically rules out suspending the debt brake. He wants to finance the aid for Ukraine as well as the Greens through an “unplanned expenditure”. According to Article 112 of the Basic Law, this would only be possible under certain conditions. “It may only be granted in the event of an unforeseen and unavoidable need.” An example of such an expenditure was emergency aid for flood victims in 2013 after severe flooding in parts of Germany.