German opposition lawmakers on Thursday accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz of dirty campaign tactics over his demand for additional borrowing to finance an aid package for Ukraine worth €3 billion ($3.1 billion).
Karstein Klein, from the Free Democratic Party (FDP), told dpa that “support for Ukraine does not require watering down the debt brake,” referring to constitutional restrictions on government borrowing.
Klein argued that €500 million has already been set aside by the Defence Ministry, meaning only a further €2.5 billion is required, in a budget totalling some €488 billion.
The comments came after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday said the package could only be financed by suspending the debt brake.
The FDP – which withdrew from Scholz’s three-party coalition in November, forcing him to call early elections set for February – believes funding the package is a question of political will and setting priorities.
For Klein, Scholz is “carrying out election campaign manoeuvres on the backs of the Ukrainians.”
The criticism was echoed by Johann Wadephul from the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, who said “Scholz’s new dodge on the issue of further aid for hard-pressed Ukraine is a real low point in the current election campaign.”
Wadephul accused the chancellor of trying to play off voters’ economic concerns against Germany’s much-needed support for Ukraine.
