German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s plan to provide additional three billion euros for Ukraine’s defense capabilities has been met with criticism from Christoph Meyer, the vice chair of the Free Democratic Party’s (FDP) parliamentary faction. Meyer accused Scholz of lying and populism, claiming that the funds could be easily financed through the current budget.
Meyer, in an interview with the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”, stated that the SPD’s warning that pension cuts would result from helping Ukraine is a deliberate lie and a fact-free social populism. Scholz has announced his intention to approve additional weapon deliveries to Ukraine, provided they are financed through a temporary suspension of the debt brake.
Meyer accused Scholz of a pre-election maneuver and warned that the SPD’s actions would undermine the German constitution and Ukraine’s survival. “Olaf Scholz and the SPD have made their own election success more important than the German constitution and Ukraine’s survival – this shows how low the SPD has sunk” Meyer said.
Scholz’s ultimatum, according to Meyer, is a form of active constitutional breach. The SPD, Meyer claimed, is not concerned with the country’s well-being, but only with itself. “If it were otherwise, there would have been constructive talks in the Bundestag” Meyer concluded.