Germany fears refugee wave if it stops aid to Ukraine
Stopping aid to Ukraine could trigger a wave of asylum seekers in Germany.
According to RIA Novosti on September 15, Tagesspiegel newspaper quoted Vice Chairman of the German Green Party, Anton Hofreiter, as saying that if support for Ukraine is stopped, a large number of refugees are expected to arrive in EU countries.
Mr. Anton Hofreiter expressed his opinion: "If we continue not to aid Ukraine, we will have to receive hundreds of thousands of refugees."
The MP also called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to pursue a coordinated migration policy, as individual actions in this situation could be “the beginning of the end” for the EU.
Meanwhile, German publication Bild reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to travel to the United States to directly ask US President Joe Biden to lift the ban allowing deep strikes into Russian territory with Western long-range weapons.
“Mr. Zelensky will travel to the United States in the coming weeks, and present his strategy there to both US President Joe Biden and presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump,” Bild said.
Previously, on September 13, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reaffirmed Berlin's stance that it will not send long-range missiles to Ukraine, despite the fact that some Western countries are loosening the ability to use this type of weapon for Kiev.
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Germany has been the second largest military aid provider to Kiev after the United States. However, Berlin has repeatedly refused to supply Ukraine with its own Taurus long-range missiles for fear of escalating tensions.