BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has criticized her own government for its indecisiveness on Ukraine aid, signaling deep divisions inside the interim cabinet and growing discord among mainstream political parties amid a heated election campaign.
“Germany as a whole isn’t currently seen as a driving force for peace policy in Europe, and honestly that pains me,” Baerbock, a leading Greens politician, told POLITICO’s Berlin Playbook Podcast. “Even now, during the election campaign, some prioritize a national perspective — or how to quickly gain a few votes in the parliamentary election — rather than taking real responsibility for securing Europe’s peace and freedom.”
Baerbock’s frustration comes at a time when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has sparked an intense domestic debate by demanding that new Ukraine aid be contingent on loosening the country’s constitutional fiscal restraints.
In an television interview this week, Scholz said he would not agree to a €3 billion aid package for Ukraine supported by Baerbock and other German leaders across the political spectrum unless it is paid for with new borrowing.
Because right-leaning parties like the Christian Democratic Union and the fiscally-conservative Free Democratic Party — which broadly favor more aid for Ukraine — are against taking on new debt to finance the aid, the package is likely to be stalled over the political deadlock.
Baerbock, who has pushed for passage of the €3 billion package, has repeatedly voiced concerns about what she views as Germany’s tentative approach to Ukraine aid, arguing that her government is losing the trust of its European allies.
“That trust must not be damaged again by hesitation, which could make other countries worry that Germany won’t stand by them,” she said.
Baerbock also sharply criticized previous German governments for what she views as their failure to heed warnings of the Kremlin’s aggressive intentions. In particular she slammed the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) under former Chancellor Angela Merkel and the SPD — which previously governed in coalition with the CDU — for building the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany.
At the time, Merkel repeatedly called construction of the pipeline under the Baltic Sea a “private-sector project,” suggesting the German government had a limited role.
“Just as Nord Stream 2 was never purely an economic project — despite what the CDU and SPD long wanted to believe — it’s also no coincidence that undersea data cables in the Baltic Sea keep getting damaged,” Baerbock said, referring to recent suspected cases of Russian sabotage.
Ahead of Germany’s Feb. 23 election, Baerbock’s Greens are polling in fourth place on 14 percent support, far behind the leading conservative alliance under chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz. Should the conservatives win, it’s far from clear which other party or parties they will invite to form a coalition. The conservatives and the Greens, however, do align on many foreign policy issues, including on Ukraine and defense spending.
Baerbock told POLITICO that Germany needs to invest more in its own security, saying “it’s crucial” that the country consistently invest more than 2 percent of GDP on defense.
“In crisis years, that could even approach three percent,” she added.
Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants NATO members to spend a staggering 5 percent of GDP on defense — more than double the alliance’s current spending target. In the past he referred to Germany as “delinquent” on defense spending, and has threatened to withhold American protection from NATO countries that don’t pay enough.
But Baerbock sounded relatively sanguine about the incoming Trump administration.
“We’ll cooperate wherever possible because America remains one of our closest partners and has been a friend for decades,” she said. “But if things become more difficult in certain areas, Europe won’t be thrown off course.”
Baerbock suggested Europe could even profit from Trump’s unpredictability, including his recent refusal not to rule out military force to acquire the Panama Canal and Greenland.
“I just returned from a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,” she said. “And there, topics like Greenland and the Panama Canal were central issues even among our Arab partners. You can sense how absurd these claims seem to so many, and it’s precisely this absurdity that’s pushing actors like Arab nations even closer to Europe.”
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