Scholz had held up the €3 billion aid package for Ukraine during the campaign leading up to Germany’s Feb. 23 election, arguing that such aid should be contingent on borrowing and not come out of the normal federal budget.
That stance sparked widespread criticism.
The chancellor’s position “is obviously being used as an excuse not to help Ukraine,” senior CDU parliamentarian Jürgen Hardt, said at the time.
But now that the SPD and Merz’s conservatives have agreed on a deal to unleash hundreds of billions in new borrowing for Germany’s military and infrastructure as well as for aid for Ukraine, Germany’s current minority government, led by Scholz, appears ready to unlock the €3 billion aid package.
The Ukraine aid package had been one of the most contentious dividing lines between Germany’s mainstream parties ahead of the election. Scholz had argued that without new borrowing, Ukraine aid would require cuts to pensions and social spending.
The constitutional reforms to unlock borrowing have changed Scholz’s calculus. The reforms are likely to pass the lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, on Tuesday and are expected to be approved in Germany’s upper house, the Bundesrat, on Friday.
