germany's confidence in aiding ukraine is getting weaker and weaker, and differences have become the main tone of eu aid to ukraine
2024-09-02
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september 1st, local time, is "anti-war day" in germany.
this day, which was originally set aside to settle accounts with nazi history and remember the pain of war, now has new meaning because of the russia-ukraine conflict, the biggest geopolitical crisis in europe since world war ii.
for two consecutive days, large-scale anti-war rallies have been held in many places in germany to protest against the government's military and diplomatic policies that fuel the conflict and demand a peaceful resolution to the ukrainian crisis.
the german trade union confederation, which had participated in advocating the establishment of "anti-war day" that year, called for "ending the vicious cycle of war violence" and emphasized that "peace cannot be achieved by more and more weapons."
screenshot of the report on the north german broadcasting corporation website
determination remains unchangedweakened confidence
such anti-war protests are already common in germany today.
after the outbreak of the russian-ukrainian conflict, germany, under the coercion of the united states and nato, has continued to provide military assistance to ukraine, and has now become ukraine's second largest arms supplier after the united states. at the same time, affected by the backlash of "supporting ukraine to contain russia", germany has seen prices continue to rise in recent years, industrial production has declined, and the economy is on the verge of recession.
a british media outlet published an article "exposing the truth" that from the eve of the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic to the present, the german economy has hardly grown and "has been hovering on the brink of recession."
the article points out that for many years, thanks to cheap russian natural gas, small and medium-sized enterprises with high productivity have been the strong pillar of german industry, driving the growth of the country's export-oriented economy. however, geopolitical changes have allowed germany to destroy all of this.
screenshot of a report from the british daily telegraph
with the continued instigation of the united states and nato, the conflict between russia and ukraine has intensified, and recently the ukrainian army has crossed the border to attack the russian mainland, leading to a complex situation of fighting on two fronts. people are generally worried that the escalation of the conflict will lead to a wider range of risks, leaving europe facing a more uncertain future.
however, in this situation, nato secretary-general stoltenberg publicly stated in an interview with german media a few days ago that he agreed with the ukrainian army launching a "legitimate" cross-border military operation against russia, and that ukraine's right to self-defense "is not limited to the border."
he also said that ukraine needs more support from its allies if it wants to continue to defend itself and ultimately win.
the day before, when chairing the nato-ukraine council meeting, stoltenberg made special mention of germany's "important role and contribution", welcomed "germany's clear commitment to continue to be the largest arms supplier to ukraine in europe and the second largest in the world", and hoped that germany would "bravely shoulder the responsibility".
screenshot of the report from germany's die welt
no matter who looks at it, it seems that nato, which is bent on "unloading" the burden on the united states, is putting germany on the spot. as for supporting ukraine, which is the biggest "political correctness" in the west at present, germany obviously dare not easily "change its mind".
in the words of the ukrainian media, it was this that prompted germany to go from being initially hesitant about aiding ukraine to becoming the second largest aid provider to ukraine after the united states.
however, financial constraints are making germany's aid to ukraine increasingly weak: the scholz government will provide about 8 billion euros in aid to ukraine this year, which will be cut in half to 4 billion euros next year, and further reduced to 3 billion euros in 2026, while only 500 million euros may be available each year in 2027 and 2028.
screenshot of a report from ukraine's kiev independent
disagreement on aid to ukraine is the main theme of the eu
germany's predicament and entanglement are also a microcosm of the whole of europe.
as the russia-ukraine conflict drags on and the united states gradually withdraws, european nato member states have not only become the biggest losers in this crisis on their doorstep, but have also had to cope with the dual challenges of increasing military spending and long-term "support for ukraine" amid an economic downturn.
in this regard, not only are ordinary people in various countries expressing their dissatisfaction, but european governments are also far from achieving the "unity" that the western alliance that is fanning the flames most hopes to see.
at the informal meeting of foreign ministers and defense ministers held by the eu member states last week on issues such as aid to ukraine, differences once again became the main theme.
although countries agreed to increase the number of soldiers trained for the ukrainian army, there were obvious contradictions over the training location: several countries, including estonia, france and sweden, supported training the ukrainian army in ukraine, while countries such as hungary and germany were worried that this move might lead to an escalation of the conflict.
screenshot of the us defense post report
there is even greater controversy over the issue of expanding the scope of use of weapons aid to ukraine, which ukraine has repeatedly requested recently.
so far, ukraine has acquired missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers, including the long-range version of the u.s. army tactical missile and the storm shadow air-launched cruise missile jointly developed by britain and france. but what ukraine wants more is the german taurus cruise missile with a range of 500 kilometers, which berlin has refused to provide.
correspondingly, britain and france hope that the eu will allow ukraine to use its weapons to attack military targets deep inside russia, but germany is opposed to this.
screenshot of the financial times report
for this reason, eu high representative for foreign affairs and security policy borrell said that since member states have not reached an agreement on expanding the scope of use of weapons aid to ukraine, the eu will not make a unified decision on this.
in an interview after attending the informal meeting of eu foreign ministers last week, hungarian foreign minister szijjártó bluntly criticized that some eu member states and even eu leaders' assessment of the current situation between russia and ukraine is completely unrealistic and suffers from "war psychosis."
screenshot of the associated press report
in fact, many european countries have already expressed their attitudes on the issue of loosening restrictions on arms aid to ukraine.
austrian defense minister tanner stressed in an interview earlier that some western countries had "crossed the line" by allowing ukraine to use its weapons to attack russian domestic targets.
italian deputy prime minister salvini recently told the media that western countries providing ukraine with weapons that could be used to attack russia's homeland could trigger a global war.
