WAR PROPAGANDA: The Germans are disappointed by the EU’s decision to financially support Ukraine

According to a propaganda narrative carried by the pro-Kremlin media, German society is outraged by the EU's decision to provide financial assistance to Kyiv in the context of the war, with such discontent reflected in the pages of national newspapers.  In reality, only a few comments from Die Welt newspaper were selected and presented as the opinion of all Germans. Also, the news translated into Russian was intentionally misrepresented.

NEWS: “Germans criticized the EU's decision to send billions to the Kyiv regime. Readers of the German newspaper Die Welt criticize the decision of the European Union to send Kyiv 18 billion euros despite the opposition of Hungary, which tried to block the initiative, according to multiple comments posted on the publication's website [...]

The European Commission pointed out that it intended to transfer financial resources to Ukraine in January. However, the agreement of all EU member states and the European Parliament was necessary. Hungary opposed this decision, according to Die Welt. As a result, the EU took the decision to overcome Hungary's opposition, allocating money not from the EU budget, but from the reserves of the member states [...]

“Does the EU still take into account any principles? Our own rules are being broken, members of the European Commission are being arrested for corruption... Why did we join the EU?” wrote Walter I.

“Why does a non-member state get EU money? It's a waste of funds! Mr. Zelensky needs to send his money from his accounts back to Ukraine, where it should be kept now”, Peter P said.”

NARRATIVE: The Germans are disappointed by the EU's decision to financially support Ukraine.

WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The news, which also appears under the headlines  The Germans revolted by the EU’s decision to send 18 billion Euro to Ukraine  or  What’s our deal with them? The Germans have lost hope in the EU over Ukraine presents some comments in the German newspaper Die Welt as the opinion of the whole society. In reality, in the pages of the German newspaper we find a lot of pro-Ukrainian and anti-Hungarian comments. The Russian press selected 4-5 comments convenient to the Kremlin (possibly written by Moscow-paid trolls themselves), ignoring the other + 500 opinions , many of them very balanced.  At the same time, taking into account all the comments of the newspaper's readers, it’s not a real survey of German public opinion. There are some comments translated into Russian that do not justify the headlines that appeared in the press about “revolted Germans” and “citizens disappointed in the EU”.

The Russian press presents Hungary's position as one directed against the Ukrainian state, which would have no right to benefit from EU financial aid. In reality, Budapest has linked these negotiations to an older dispute over the freezing of EU funds for Hungary. In fact, this is also mentioned in the pages of the German newspaper Die Welt, being omitted by the Russian state press.

In reality, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has refused to agree to the financial aid to Ukraine if his country's recovery plan and cohesion funds are blocked by the EU. Budapest had also refused to accept a minimum tax of 15% for large multinational corporations.

On December 13 this year, the Czech presidency of the EU Council announced that a compromise had been reached to unlock EU funds for Hungary, also resolving  the issue of granting 18 billion Euro worth of assistance to Ukraine in 2023. Germany was among the supporters of granting this financial aid. A survey conducted this past summer shows that  66% of the Germans consider Russia to be primarily responsible for the war in Ukraine , and 57% are in favor of breaking all economic ties with Russia.

Veridica has dismantled a series of false narratives regarding the nature of the war in Ukraine and the attitude of international organizations. Russian propaganda claims that  Ukrainian politicians want war to make money  and do not care about the suffering of the people. According to the pro-Kremlin media, the US has been arming Ukraine since 2014, to push it into war against Russia. Also, the Russian press wrote that due to Kyiv’s neo-Nazi propaganda, Ukrainians don’t understand that Russia is here to liberate, not occupy them.  According to the Kremlin’s false narratives, Russia is showing restraint in the war in Ukraine , especially when attacking civilian targets, and  aims to defend all Russian speakers from the genocide committed by Ukrainians.