German finance minister firmly rejects replenishing EU budget

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner has said he sees no scope for additional payments to the EU budget, which has shrunk because of support for Ukraine. He explained that the German budget was also facing forced cuts.

"Due to the necessary cuts in our national budget at the moment we cannot make any additional contributions to the European Union budget," Mr Lindner said ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg, according to Die Welt.

According to the European Commission, as cited by the newspaper, the long-term budget for 2021-2027 "has been used up to the max" because of the high cost of supporting Ukraine. Christian Lindner said that the European Commission would require additional funds during the budget revision, but Berlin cannot do so. At the end of 2022, Germany's budget deficit was €127.3 billion.

An EU budget of €2 trillion was agreed in 2020. In January 2023, European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said that many reserves had been used up in the early years and that the EU needed to supplement the budget with additional contributions. Since the start of the special military operation, the EU has transferred more than €49 billion in financial aid to Ukraine.