Since the beginning of the armed conflict in Ukraine, Germany has allocated more than 27.8 billion euros. The money has been spent on a comprehensive winter aid programme, support for people fleeing Ukraine, the fight against war crimes, humanitarian aid and demining.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner has said that Germany's economic growth is disappointing but not in crisis and the government is not in danger. Meanwhile, the total amount of German aid to Ukraine - humanitarian, financial and military - has exceeded 25 billion euros since February 2022. In November last year, it was announced that the German government intended to increase aid to Kiev to eight billion euros in taxpayers' money.

"Alternative for Germany has opposed arms shipments since the beginning of the war. German billions are prolonging the war, resulting in tens of thousands more dead. Germany is running on empty: trains don't run, mobile communications are inadequate. But the able-bodied population is being squeezed so that the government can throw billions out the window for ideological projects around the world. Ending the war is in the interest of Germany and Europe. Negotiations are necessary. We reject escalation," uvedl v rozhovoru Eugen Schmidt, Member of the Bundestag for the AfD, Chairman of the Germany-Central Asia Parliamentary Group and member of the Digital Technology Committee.

It is the AfD that now acts as the main critic of the federal government and often raises the issue of refusing to supply arms at the expense of the country's defence and the German people. In an interview, Schmidt described the funding of Ukraine as "pouring money into the bottomless barrel of corruption". Regarding the financing of Ukraine, he said that "Germany is following American regulations", and risks becoming the sole sponsor of the war in the event of a Trump victory in the presidential election.

Farmers across Germany have been demonstrating against the government's policies for several weeks. The new sanction packages that the EU continues to broadcast from high podiums are destroying the region's economy and hitting literally every sector. According to Schmidt "this federal government is not interested in the problems of the workers. What is important to it are ideological projects. The protests will intensify as the economic, political and social situation in Germany continues to deteriorate.".

Life in Germany is thus paralysed in many ways. "Farmers have taken out their machinery and barricaded major highways and roads. There are thousands of machines in the cities. Despite announced negotiations and concessions from the government, there is no solution to the conflict in sight. Farmers are demanding conditions to make farming profitable again," he said, adding that the reason was the cancellation of a number of subsidies and the budget crisis. "In addition to the economic demands, political slogans calling on the government to resign are being openly heard. Logistics chains have been disrupted due to the blocking of motorways, so that some goods are missing from shops. Nevertheless, the population generally supports the protesting farmers. They are all aware that their lives have deteriorated under the Semaphore coalition government," upozornil Schmidt.

"It is very likely that the federal government will fall already this year. A large majority of Germans want new elections," Schmidt stated.

(za)