German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday that most European Union countries were not supplying Ukraine with enough weapons and urged allies to step up their efforts.
With US military aid to Ukraine stalled in the Congress and a wave of anti-government protests sweeping Germany, Scholz insisted Europe must step up, repeating his mantra that the German government will support Kyiv for as long as it takes.
German farmers have been blocking motorways and major arteries this week in opposition to planned cuts in diesel subsidies. Fresh data from the IMF shows Germany has become the largest economy with the worst performance this year – minus 0.5 per cent.
Speaking to reporters, Scholz warned that while his government plans to double military aid to Ukraine to 8 billion euros this year as part of the draft budget, “this alone will not be enough to guarantee Ukraine’s security in the long term.” He said:
“I therefore call on our allies in the European Union to also step up their efforts in support of Ukraine. The arms deliveries for Ukraine planned so far by the majority of EU member states are by all means too small. We need higher contributions.”
The chancellor’s unusually frank remarks, delivered at a news conference with Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden, reflect growing frustration and concern among German officials that other EU countries appear to be providing insufficient military resources to Ukraine, which is now in its second year of war.
Scholz said other EU countries were “possibly” planning further arms deliveries “but we don’t know about it” and that Berlin had accordingly asked the EU to clarify with member states what support they were planning. “At the latest” by the next summit of EU leaders on 1 February, Scholz added, “we need as precise an overview as possible of what concrete contribution our European partners will make in support of Ukraine this year.”
The chancellor also expressed optimism that EU countries would be able to overcome Hungary’s objections to the €50 billion aid package for Ukraine to be adopted at the February summit. He noted:
“I am confident that we will manage to get a decision by all 27 member states. That is what we are working on very intensively and where we are putting a lot of effort into actually making this possible.”
