Lindner calls for a Marshall Plan for Ukraine

Frankfurt The fighting in Ukraine continues unabated, the Russian army is leaving a trail of devastation in the country. The country’s economy is also idle.

Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner has the Ukraine therefore promised long-term help even after the end of the Russian war of aggression and brought up the idea of ​​an international reconstruction plan for the devastated country. “Our solidarity with our European neighbors is long-term. And that’s why we need an international Marshall Plan for Ukraine,” said the FDP politician on Tuesday at the beginning of the four-day budget debate in the Bundestag.

“We hope for peace soon,” said Lindner. When this is achieved, Germany will be there to help with reconstruction and to support the way to a partnership with the EU.

After 1945, Western Europe, which had been destroyed by the Second World War, was rebuilt with the Marshall Plan. The US spent billions on it. The Federal Republic of Germany also benefited greatly.

Lindner introduced the federal budget for 2022 on Tuesday and also announced a supplementary budget. This will only include expenses that are directly related to the Ukraine war, he said in the Bundestag. The supplementary budget is likely to add billions more in debt.

More and more people are fleeing Ukraine – and are traumatized

Meanwhile, the number of people fleeing Ukraine because of the war has risen to more than 3.5 million, according to the United Nations (UN). Ukraine had a population of more than 44 million before the Russian attack began. “We have to assume that there will be eight to ten million refugees in the next few weeks,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at an EU meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said more than two million Ukrainians had fled to neighboring Poland. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 500,000 of them need support because of mental health problems. Around 30,000 have serious mental health problems, said WHO representative for Poland, Paloma Cuchi.

Refugees arriving in Poland suffered from a range of health problems, including diarrhea and dehydration. However, the most support is needed for coping with trauma.

Since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the federal police have identified 232,462 war refugees in Germany. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of the Interior on Tuesday.

However, this number does not reflect the entire flight process. Because it is limited to refugees who were found by the federal police, for example at the Austrian-Bavarian border, at train stations or on trains.

As a rule, there are no fixed border controls at the internal EU borders, and Ukrainians are also allowed to enter the country without a visa. The number of people who actually arrived is therefore probably significantly higher. It is also not recorded how many of the refugees may be traveling on from Germany to friends or relatives in other countries.

Three escape corridors planned for people from Mariupol

Meanwhile, three escape corridors are to be opened in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Tuesday, according to the Ukrainian government. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk in a video message published on Telegram. The people should therefore be brought from the surrounding towns of Berdyansk, Jurjiwka and Nikolske to the city of Zaporizhia.

It is clear that there are not enough places, Vereshchuk continues. Therefore, the citizens are asked to follow the instructions of the local authorities and to go to the buses in an organized manner. No one will be left behind, she promised. Evacuations will continue daily until everyone has been evacuated from the city.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, up to 130,000 residents still live in the city on the Azov Sea – it used to be around 440,000. Russia and Ukraine repeatedly accuse each other of preventing people from fleeing along humanitarian corridors.

Draft EU summit declaration – States want to buy gas together

In order to increase the pressure on Russia to end the invasion of Ukraine, the EU governments are apparently planning to jointly buy gas and oil from third countries in the future. This emerges from a draft statement for the EU summit on Thursday and Friday seen by the Reuters news agency. “Looking ahead to next winter, Member States and the Commission will urgently… work together on joint purchases of gas, LNG and hydrogen,” it said.

The Russian war of aggression has helped drive energy prices to record highs. At the same time, the EU wants to reduce its energy imports from Russia as quickly as possible. Therefore, more liquid gas should be bought in Qatar or the USA.

Last year, the European Commission proposed a system that would allow EU countries to jointly buy strategic gas supplies. Germany had rejected plans for joint purchasing via the EU for years.

Fires near the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant

The report by the Ukrainian parliament that several fires had broken out in the restricted area around the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine caused nervousness in the morning. The Rada said there was a fire in seven places. In the message, she referred to satellite data from the European Space Agency Esa.

Overall, an area of ​​more than two square kilometers is said to be in flames. Russian troops took control of the area around the nuclear power plant about a month ago. It was there in 1986 that the worst nuclear accident in the history of civilian use of nuclear power occurred.

More on the Ukraine war:

The fires were “probably caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation – namely by shelling or arson,” the Rada said. That couldn’t be verified. However, forest fires and wildfires have repeatedly occurred there in the past.

There had already been major fires around the nuclear ruins in spring 2020. At that time, the authorities assured several times that the radioactivity in the adjacent populated regions was below the limit values ​​and that there was no danger to the population.
With agency material

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