German Chancellor Candidate Friedrich Merz Accuses Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Misusing Military Aid for Ukraine in Election Campaign.
Merz, a candidate for the Chancellor position, has criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD for allegedly misusing nearly three billion euros in military aid for Ukraine in the election campaign. “I find it irresponsible that, it seems, a political game is being played with the people of Ukraine, both within the remaining coalition and the Union, against the Union” Merz told the T-Online news portal.
Following a meeting with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Greens and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius of the SPD, Merz stated, “Pistorius wants it, Baerbock wants it, but the Chancellor does not, so there is conflict again.”
Regarding a demand to relax the debt brake for this sum, Merz flatly rejected the idea, calling it “completely unnecessary.” “The federal government can, without further ado, decide on an extraordinary expenditure, implement it, and inform the Haushaltsausschuss of the German Bundestag. That is the way” Merz said.
If the coalition government presents a corresponding proposal, the Union will not object. “But to relax the debt brake, abolish it, change the Basic Law for three billion euros? Absolutely not” Merz emphasized. “That is a transparent attempt by the Chancellor to set a trap, and we won’t fall for it.”
Merz recognizes this as “a pattern we have seen in the Social Democratic Party time and again.” “Whenever the alternatives are: state political responsibility or political gain, these SPD and this Chancellor typically choose the second” Merz stated.