BERLIN, August 26. /TASS/. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz calls funding the German welfare system impossible while simultaneously allocating money to provide military assistance to Kiev, the leader of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance — Reason and Justice, Sahra Wagenknecht, wrote on her X account.

"It is simply unbelievable," she remarked, recalling that Merz expressed a desire to reform the welfare system in Germany, arguing that in its current form it is "no longer affordable." "One day later, his deputy [Vice Chancellor Lars] Klingbeil travels to Kiev and, on behalf of the federal government, pledges Ukraine further arms aid amounting to nine billion euros annually," Wagenknecht pointed out, adding that this promise follows "more than 50 billion euros in taxpayer money having already been poured into Ukraine."

"Further billions for weapons to Kiev are apparently easily affordable, but for pensioners, the sick, children, and families in Germany, there is no money? Seriously?!" the BSW head asked. In her opinion, Merz’s government "is wasting our prosperity and trampling on the interests of its own citizens."

Germany lacks the economic resources to ensure the financial sustainability of the welfare system, Merz said at the 23 August party congress of the Christian Democratic Union in Lower Saxony. He called for a "fundamental reassessment" of the system of benefits for German citizens due to a significant increase in expenditures.

Since February 2022, Germany has provided a total of €50.5 billion to support Ukraine, according to data from the German Ministry of Finance. During the ministry’s chief Lars Klingbeil’s visit to Kiev on August 25, he promised 9 billion euros from the German authorities annually to support Ukraine.