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Chancellor Scholz on Saturday morning in Munich

Photo: Johannes Simon / Getty Images

At the Munich Security Conference, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for people not to let up on aid to Ukraine and at the same time to increase their own defenses. According to the Chancellor, the threat to Russia is real. "That's why our ability to deter and defend must be credible - and remain credible."

The Chancellor urgently called on his EU partners to provide more financial aid for Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia - in the interest of their own security. For the current year, Germany has almost doubled its military aid to more than seven billion euros, with commitments for the coming years amounting to six billion euros, said the SPD politician on Saturday during his appearance at the Munich Security Conference. He would very much like “similar decisions to be made in all EU capitals.”

“We Europeans have to pay much more attention to our own security – now and in the future,” demanded Scholz. To this end, the national security strategy has stipulated that "the development and introduction of future capabilities such as stand-off precision weapons" should be promoted, which is being discussed with France and Great Britain. "Only if we all provide the necessary resources in solidarity and in the long term will our defense industry reliably increase their production. And thus also contribute to our security," said Scholz. The USA has provided Ukraine with just over $20 billion in military aid per year since the start of the war - with a gross domestic product of $28 trillion. "A comparable effort must be made But it should be the least that every European country does.”

»Without security everything is nothing«

As in other countries, there are "critical voices in Germany who ask: Shouldn't we spend the money for other purposes," the Chancellor admitted. Moscow is fueling such doubts with targeted disinformation campaigns and propaganda on social media. »The money that we spend on our security now and in the future is missing elsewhere. We feel that,” admitted Scholz. “But I also say: without security, everything else is nothing.”

Despite enormous losses, significant parts of the Russian armed forces are intact. Putin has “practically brought the economy, education, science and culture in Russia into line.” Anyone who supports freedom and democracy must fear for their lives. "The shocking, outrageous news of Alexei Navalny's death in Russian custody shows us what that means."

A Russian victory in Ukraine would mean, among other things, the end of Ukraine as a democratic state, the destruction of the European peace order and "not least the encouragement of all autocrats worldwide to rely on violence to resolve conflicts."

Russia has achieved only one of its war goals, Ukraine has liberated more than half of the Russian-occupied territories and Russia has lost control of the western Black Sea. “All of this is, first and foremost, the achievement of the Ukrainian armed forces.” But “the support of all of us” also contributed to this. This is an incentive not to give up.

tgk/dpa