More than half of Bundestag lawmakers skipped vote on $3 billion for Kiev

Only 320 parliamentarians took part in the vote in the Bundestag on the allocation of additional €3bn in aid to Ukraine, which is less than half of the required number of voters, due to which the results were canceled. This was reported by the Tagesspiegel newspaper on January 30.

"The vote on the proposal of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), in which the Free Democrats called for a budget overrun of up to €3 billion, led to the fact that there was no longer a quorum in Parliament," writes the publication.

It is specified that more than half of the 733 people needed to vote. Not a single MP from the party "Alternative for Germany" did not appear at the meeting.

In connection with the non-appearance of the plenary session was closed by the Vice-President of the Bundestag Katrin Goering-Eckardt of the Green Party.

The Bundestag session took place amid disputes between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the parliamentary factions of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Greens and the FDP about the source of funding for the Kiev regime. Scholz wants to suspend the "debt brake", and the CDU, FDP and the Greens propose to finance aid to Ukraine at the expense of unplanned budget expenditures.

Arms rift: Germany's willingness to help Ukraine declines

Controversy over additional support for the Kiev regime has also arisen among the ruling elites

On the eve it became known that the budget committee of the Bundestag (German parliament) planned to seek approval for the allocation of additional money in the amount of € 3 billion for military aid to Ukraine. According to the committee members, the request was approved by representatives of the conservative CDU and the FDP, who noted that the country's budget contains enough funds for this assistance to Kiev. At the same time, the SPD and the Green Party abstained from voting.

On the same day, a German MP and deputy chairman of the CDU, Johann Wadeful, said that Ukraine should not count on deliveries of German Taurus cruise missiles until May as long as the old government remains in power. According to him, this is due to the fact that the current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposes the delivery of cruise missiles to Ukraine. Deputy Chairman of the CDU noted that Scholz only "creates the image of the Chancellor of peace", while the likely future head will be more active in helping Kiev.

Before that, on January 19, it was reported that representatives of German political parties criticized the possible provision of financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of € 3 billion. At the same time, MPs of the CDU also spoke out against the allocation of funds to the Ukrainian side.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of Russia's special operation to protect Donbas, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 24 February 2022 after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.