The dispute over billion-euro aid for Ukraine has intensified. SPD General Secretary Matthias Miersch has reacted to the FDP’s accusations, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) being accused of telling the truth and holding Ukraine “hostage.” “It is absurd to accuse us of playing off interests against each other” Miersch told the “Spiegel.”
“The FDP is no longer credible: It was the FDP that made proposals to cut pensions and municipalities to balance the budget and finance Ukraine aid” Miersch said.
This was one of the central conflicts that led Scholz to end the coalition with the FDP in November. “It is unfair if Christian Dürr now conceals this and instead accuses us of telling untruths” Miersch said.
The background of the dispute is the financing of three billion euros in additional aid for Ukraine. Scholz wants to use an exception to the debt brake for this purpose. The Union, FDP, and Greens want to finance it through an extraordinary expenditure in the budget.
In the context of this dispute, the Chancellor said at an event on Monday: “I have the feeling that I’m saying this openly: At the moment, the German people are being lied to with the greatest intensity and greatest foresight.”
Leading politicians from the Union and FDP reject Scholz’s accusation of lying to the public in the dispute over the financing of further Ukraine aid. “In the face of the impending election defeat, Olaf Scholz’s fuses are burning” said CSU General Secretary Martin Huber to the “Bild” (Wednesday’s edition). “Scholz has failed as Chancellor, so he’s throwing dirt. That’s unworthy of a Chancellor.”
FDP Chairman Christian Lindner told the “Bild”: “Olaf Scholz’s election campaign is below the level of a Chancellor. He’s flailing around like a drowning man.” Lindner’s proposal: “If, for example, the Bundeswehr spent four billion euros less last year, then three billion euros this year for Ukraine is no problem.”
CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann also rejected the accusation of lying, but without addressing the content. Instead, he said to the “Bild”: “Olaf Scholz is singing the song of the populists. He’s doing our country a disservice. That’s unworthy of a Chancellor. It’s high time for Germany to get a Chancellor who will bring our country forward again.