By Andrea Thomas
BERLIN (Dow Jones)–Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has warned of a defeat for Ukraine in the defensive war against Russia’s attack. Further military and financial support for Ukraine from Germany, the European Union and other Western partners is necessary. The federal government will secure this support for Ukraine in its budget and provide the aid “for as long as necessary”. Because the Russian President Wladimir Putin stick to his target. This is also about the security of Europe.
“Russia has now put its economy entirely at the service of this war. Russian arms production is in full swing,” said Scholz in his government statement at the upcoming summit of European heads of state and government. Russia has already called up hundreds of thousands of recruits and Putin would send tens of thousands of mostly young Russians to the front “without regard to losses.” “Putin remains determined to bring Ukraine to its knees militarily.”
Putin is betting that international support for Ukraine will decrease. “The danger that this calculation could work cannot be dismissed,” said Scholz. He referred to the US Republicans’ blocking of American aid to Ukraine. Everyone in the European Union (EU) agrees that the Ukrainian budget needs to be stabilized with 50 billion euros in the coming years, but there is still no agreement on how. Hungary in particular has not yet agreed, criticized Scholz.
Orban threatens
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban had threatened to veto the summit in recent days. In the run-up to the meeting, Orban also rejected further billions in economic and military aid for Kiev as well as new EU sanctions against Russia. The EU must decide on such aid unanimously.
Ukraine has also warned the EU that its summit will fail. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has promised “devastating consequences” if the EU heads of state and government do not decide to start accession negotiations with Ukraine as planned. Scholz expressly supported the opening of such EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.
With a view to the upcoming EU-Western Balkans summit, Scholz called for reform efforts to be rewarded. He cited Albania as an example. The EU itself should also make reform efforts for enlargement. Here he called for a timetable until the summer of 2024.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 13, 2023 08:04 ET (13:04 GMT)