German Chancellor Scholz's Government Agrees To Increase Military Aid For Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. (Source: President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Coalition reportedly agreed to double the country's military assistance to Ukraine next year to 8 billion euros, Berlin's political source said on Sunday.

If approved by parliament, where Scholz's party holds the majority, the increase will increase Germany's defense spending to 2.1 percent of gross domestic product targets, surpassing the 2 percent promised by all members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the source said. November 13.

Members of parliament from Social Democrats Party, Free Democrats Party and Green Party approved an increase in negotiations regarding the proposed 2024 federal budget, ahead of a formal meeting of the Bundestag budget committee on Thursday, November 16, according to the source.

Bloomberg News first reported the news on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense said the Bundestag Committee had not yet completed negotiations and declined to comment further.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who was interviewed by ARD, referred to the plan to multiply military aid to Ukraine.

"This is a strong signal to Ukraine that we will not just let them go," Defense Minister Pistorius said, adding the move, if approved, would mean the annual budget allocation would be sufficient to meet the needs throughout the year.

Separately, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag said in his report the committee would approve an additional 4 billion euros in funds.

"Mupposing military spending is the right thing to do and important," the report quoted MP Andreas Schwarz, who acted as SPD's military budget official.

"With this step, we will underline our promise to Ukraine with the necessary funds. The fact that we will also be able to fulfill our obligations in NATO is the grand success of the coalition," he said.

Earlier, the EU plan to disburse up to 20 billion US dollars in military aid to Ukraine was rejected by the bloc countries, diplomats said this week.