Almost a billion euros intended for aid to Ukraine “disappeared” from the German defense budget: Bild
The German Ministry of Defense has found itself at the center of financial confusion after the draft budget for the current year did not include almost one billion euros, which were previously announced as part of the aid package for Ukraine. This was reported by an authoritative publication Picture, citing government documents and officials’ comments.
According to journalists, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius recently stated that 9.2 billion euros have been allocated to support Ukraine in 2025. However, in the budget project of June 24, published by the federal government, another amount appears – 8.3 billion euros, which is 900 million less than the one announced earlier.
In the ministry document, it was assumed that 7.3 billion have already been officially approved, and another 1.9 billion euros should be additionally approved – it is about separate expenses, in particular for ammunition, air defense systems and maintenance of equipment. However, after the publication of the project, the officials radically changed their tone: now they claim that the mentioned 1.9 billion have already been integrated into the total sum of 8.3 billion.
The German Ministry of Defense is trying to explain the discrepancy with technical nuances. As written Picture, the agency called the missing part “co-financing and refunds” from the European Peace Fund — a mechanism by which the EU partially compensates individual expenses of member states in support of Ukraine. Thus, in Berlin they insist: the funds will appear, but so far they have not been formally recorded in the budget.
“In the end, it will still be about 9 billion euros”, — the Ministry of Defense is trying to reassure the public.
However, against the backdrop of fierce debates in the Bundestag regarding commitments to Kyiv, such discrepancies in numbers are alarming. After all, Pistorius previously insisted that supporting Ukraine is a strategic priority for Germany, and underfunding or bureaucratic failures can damage the trust of partners.
The situation remains open, and the financial architecture of German military aid to Ukraine is subject to increasingly close scrutiny by the press and society.
