February 17, 2024
CDU leader Merz discusses Ukraine, Trump’s NATO remarks
Friedrich Merz, the head of the conservative Christian Democratic Union party and leader of the opposition in the German Bundestag parliament, spoke with DW’s Michaela Küfner regarding Ukraine, European defense efforts and the Israel-Hamas war.
In regards to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech at the MSC, Merz said Zelenskyy seemed “extremely grateful” to those giving aid to Ukraine “for almost two years now.”
“On the other hand, he described the challenges in Ukraine with his people and he asked for more support,” Merz said. “And that is, in my view, still necessary. We have to give support to Ukraine potentially for a longer period of time than we thought at the very beginning of this conflict.”
As Europe seeks to beef up its security amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Merz discussed shortcomings regarding Germany’s military expenditures.
“The so-called ‘Sondervermögen’ is a good thing but there has more to follow to the fill the gap, which is still between the actual budget and the 2% goal, which is roughly €80 billion ($86 billion) per year,” Merz said.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a special supplementary fund for defense spending over several years, known as the “Sondervermögen.” Scholz says the fund will help Germany hit the 2% NATO defense spending target for the first time this year.
Former US President Donald Trump, who is now running again for the White House, has recently suggested that he would “encourage” Russia to do “whatever the h— they want” to countries which do no meet NATO spending guidelines.
“We have to our homework here. And that is correctly said by Trump and is [said in a] more friendly and polite [way] by others, by Biden, that the Europeans have to do more for their own security. And that’s the way we are going,” Merz told DW.
His CDU has not opposed the defense spending increases, with Merz if anything criticizing the government in Berlin for acting too slowly or too little to help Ukraine.
