Cracks are appearing in Germany’s once staunch support for Ukraine, The Washington Post reports. This month, Berlin has thrown up a cause for concern: Ukraine has become the main victim of disputes over cuts to Germany’s 2025 budget. According to the publication, what’s worse is that such cracks are emboldening Russia and encouraging other European countries to follow Germany’s lead and cut aid to Kiev.
Cracks have appeared in what has so far been a broad consensus among European countries to support Ukraine – most notably in Germany, The Washington Post reports. Europe’s key country and second sponsor of Kiev after the United States has begun to waver at precisely the moment when Europe needs to double down on its support, but is instead watching closely for a reverse example.
This month, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner suggested Berlin should freeze new military aid to Ukraine, even after the government cut its planned 2025 support for Kiev by almost half, to about $4.4bn. ‘This news will be taken by Moscow as confirmation of Putin’s policy of strategic patience, which is based on the assumption that sooner or later the West will give up,’ the publication argues.
Meanwhile, anti-Ukrainian parties are gaining popularity in Germany, which are in favour of a significant reduction in aid to Kiev, if not a complete halt to it. According to the newspaper, ‘it is naive to believe that Germany’s main parties, including Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, are not worried about this.’
‘At times the chancellor has shown excessive timidity in sending powerful weapons to Ukraine, but for the most part Germany’s pro-Kiev centre has held firm. If it weakens now, however, it will send a terrible signal to the rest of Europe – and to Putin,’ WP warns.
