The warring ruling coalition has found a compromise on next year’s budget, but the fate of military support for Ukraine remains uncertain.
This year, Germany has allocated 8 billion euros to support Kiev in the fight against Russian aggression, which is the highest figure in the entire European Union. If the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports are to be believed, next year’s budget will include only half of these funds, that is, about 4 billion euros, which have already been allocated, and the government does not foresee any additional money. In 2026, military support for Ukraine from our western neighbours is expected to amount to 3 billion euros, and in the next two years – only 0.5 billion euros. German government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner responded to these media reports in a rather enigmatic manner, stating on Monday that Ukraine can count on support from Berlin next year “despite a smaller budget”.
This reduced budget is the result of a compromise by the ruling coalition that is at odds with itself and has clearly divergent objectives, in which the main brake is the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which holds the reins of the Ministry of Finance.
