The Greens have criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) for blocking additional military aid of three billion euros for Ukraine, calling it an irresponsible election ploy. The Haushalts- and Verteidigungspolitiker, Sebastian Schäfer, told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the Chancellor is openly driven by his election campaign against his Defense Minister and Foreign Minister, and is holding up funds that he himself had placed on the table in November.
Germany should take the lead in this complex European situation, particularly in the pursuit of a peace in freedom for Ukraine, Schäfer emphasized. The Union has sent positive signals in this regard. “I can only urge the Chancellor to reconsider his blockade in this crucial matter” said the chairman of the Haushaltsausschuss of the Bundestag.
Playing with time in the face of the situation in Ukraine is simply irresponsible, Schäfer added.
The Defense Ministry, led by Boris Pistorius (SPD), and the Foreign Ministry, led by Annalena Baerbock (Greens), had proposed increasing the military aid before the Bundestag election on February 23. With the previously agreed four billion euros in military aid, the total would increase to seven billion euros.
According to an internal document from the Defense Ministry, the additional three billion euros would be used to purchase three more Iris-T SLS/SLM air defense systems, guided missiles, and Patriot defense systems, as well as three Skyranger air defense systems, 30,000 rounds of artillery ammunition, 20 armored vehicles, ten tank howitzers, and 50 million euros for drones.
The Chancellery, on the other hand, maintains that there is already ongoing aid and that Ukraine can also purchase weapons through a 50-billion-euro program agreed upon by the Western partners. The additional aid is, in any case, a matter for the next federal government. Furthermore, production of Iris-T systems is already fully booked, making it impossible to deliver additional systems in the short term.