Scholz presses ahead with EU arms deliveries to Ukraine
Published: Friday, Feb 2nd 2024, 00:50
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Brussels (dpa) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed his satisfaction with the initial reactions of the other EU member states to his initiative for more arms deliveries to Ukraine. The discussion at the EU summit in Brussels was "very serious", "just as I had hoped", said Scholz on Thursday after the consultations in Brussels. Many would now reconsider their contributions. "And I have also received feedback that this is happening." However, Scholz pressed for speed. "We must come to the conclusion relatively early this year that bilateral support for Ukraine's defense will also be strengthened. That must be the message that is sent out from the European Union."
After the USA, Germany is Ukraine's largest arms supplier. This year, more than seven billion euros have been earmarked for this in the federal budget. Scholz complains that the other EU partners are too cautious in their commitments. This mainly refers to economically strong countries such as France, Italy and Spain. According to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Ukraine can hope to receive European military aid worth at least 21 billion euros this year. Compared to what has been provided so far, this would mean an acceleration of support, the Spaniard explained on Wednesday. In the past two years since the start of the Russian war of aggression, the value of European military aid for Ukraine has totaled around 28 billion euros. According to Borrell, however, the figure of 21 billion euros for 2024 is not based on feedback from all 27 EU member states. He did not say which countries had not yet reported any data. Scholz had already complained before the summit "that the figures we have now seen are not very meaningful". It was not clear to him who had provided information and whether the data related to one year or several years. At the press conference after the summit, he added that he had not received a breakdown from Borrell.
In the Chancellor's view, an increase in European military aid for Ukraine would also send a good message to the USA. He hopes that the discussions about this alone will make it easier for US President Joe Biden to campaign for further military aid in the US Congress. He has to approve the funds for this on a regular basis.
Scholz does not want to discuss the delivery of new weapons systems such as the "Taurus" cruise missiles demanded by the coalition partners FDP and the Greens in the EU consultations. "The discussions we are having are primarily about what has been delivered so far and that we need more of it and also secure production capacities when it comes to ammunition, for example," he said. "It must be enough for Ukraine to always have enough supplies, so to speak."
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