The Berlin-backed €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine is “madness,” Sahra Wagenknecht has said
Veteran German politician Sahra Wagenknecht has lashed out at Chancellor Friedrich Merz after a €90 billion ($106 billion) emergency loan to Ukraine, which Berlin had been actively promoting, was approved by the bloc.
On Thursday, the European Council announced that the interest-free loan has been finalized and that it will begin disbursements “as soon as possible” in the second quarter of 2026. A day earlier, EU ambassadors agreed the transfer of funds to Vladimir Zelensky’s government, just hours after Kiev resumed the flow of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline.
The financial package had previously been vetoed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who rejected Ukrainian explanations about the pipeline being damaged in a Russian strike and insisted that Kiev halted oil supplies in January deliberately to influence the outcome of the election in Hungary. Orban’s Fidesz party ended up losing the April 12 vote to the pro-EU Tisza party led by Peter Magyar.
Wagenknecht took to X on Wednesday, saying: “Great! Another 90 billion for Zelensky’s corrupt cronies in Kiev – this is going to cost the German taxpayer dearly.”
“Merz, who bears significant responsibility for this madness, has turned his own citizens into cash cows for Ukraine. A chancellor could hardly fail more miserably,” the politician, who served in the Bundestag for more than 15 years and founded the Bundnis Sahra Wagenknecht party, wrote.
Merz repeatedly called for the loan to be swiftly issued to Ukraine to serve as “a signal from Europe to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”
Germany, which is the EU’s largest economy, has already provided almost €44 billion ($52 billion) to Kiev since the escalation between Russia and Ukraine in 2022. According to the current budget, Berlin’s aid to Zelensky’s government will be increased to around €11.5 billion ($13.7 billion) this year.
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Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said on Thursday that the EU loan will further increase “the burden on ordinary Europeans, who are already facing significant cuts to their pension and social programs,” adding that the EU’s debt “already exceeds €15 trillion (17.5 trillion).”
The approval of the package by Brussels is “another step towards the complete loss of sovereignty by the European capitals,” Shoigu stated.
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