Germany plans to significantly reduce the funds dedicated to helping partner countries with security, defense, and stabilization, including support for Ukraine, according to the draft of its 2025 budget.
According to the inputs by CNBC the draft budget of shows that money for supporting partner countries will be cut to 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) in 2025, down from 7.5 billion euros in 2024. In 2023, 5.4 billion euros had been allocated for this purpose.
In recent years, a large portion of this budget has been used to support Ukraine after Russia’s attack on the country. The German government now expects that Ukraine will be able to meet many of its military needs from the $50 billion support package agreed upon last month by the G7, according to the draft budget.
Germany also stated it will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary, in cooperation with its allies.
“Ukraine’s financing is secured for the foreseeable future thanks to European instruments and the G7 loans,” German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in a press conference on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
There is rising uncertainty about future aid for Ukraine as former President Donald Trump’s chances of winning back the White House increase. The possibility of a second Trump presidency has raised concerns about whether U.S. aid for Ukraine could be cut or stopped. Trump’s vice-presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance, has also strongly opposed more aid for Ukraine.
Germany’s spending plan was approved by the cabinet on Wednesday after tense negotiations. Coalition leaders announced the plans for their 2025 budget earlier this month. At the time, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz listed defense as a key part of the budget.
The draft budget outlines the government’s plan to spend more than 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense and security, in response to the war between Russia and Ukraine. NATO requires member countries to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense.
German budget planning faced a crisis last year when a decision from the constitutional court resulted in a 60-billion-euro funding gap across several years of its spending plan. The government had planned to re-allocate unused emergency debt from the Covid-19 pandemic to future spending plans, but the court ruled this was unconstitutional.
The German parliament will debate the draft budget in September when it returns from its summer break, before finalizing it later in the year.
