BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s budget committee has called Finance Minister Joerg Kukies to approve an additional 3 billion euros ($3.13 billion) in military aid for Ukraine, sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
The request was approved in the budget committee of parliament with the votes of the opposition conservatives of the CDU and the Free Democrats (FDP), with the abstention of the governing Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, according to committee members.
The committee cannot decide on additional aid for Ukraine without approval from the finance minister. However, in practice, the ministry usually complies with the requests approved by the committee.
Budget committee members from the CDU and FDP said there are enough funds in the budget for the request.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, from the SPD, is also in favour of additional military aid but he had so far insisted that this could only be financed with an exception to the debt brake to allow for additional borrowing.
This dispute over spending led to the collapse of Germany’s government, as Scholz wanted to suspend the debt brake citing special circumstances, and former Finance Minister Christian Lindner refused, asking for cuts instead of new borrowing.
The Ministry of Finance, now headed by the SPD, was initially unavailable for comment.
The funds are in addition to 8 billion euros budgeted for Ukraine in 2024. German aid to Ukraine was cut to 4 billion euros in 2025, as the country hopes Ukraine will be able to meet the bulk of its military needs with the $50 billion in loans approved by the Group of Seven.
($1 = 0.9600 euros)
(Reporting by Holger Hansen; writing by Maria Martinez; editing by Sonali Paul)
