Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Among its allies, who helps Ukraine the most?

My wife asked me the other day: "Besides the US, how much the allied countries pledged to Ukraine to support its fight against the Russian invader?"

I responded that I wasn’t sure about the other countries’ contribution. I did some research and found out that, as of February 2023 (some 3 month ago), a total 144 billion Euros ($150 billion) had been pledged by 16 countries with the United State sharing about half of the burden with a 73.2 ($75) billion Euros contribution. 

Not bad for a country straddled with more than $31 trillion dollar in public debt. 

Meanwhile, European institutions and countries have committed a combined 54.9 billion euros in aid to Ukraine, with Germany providing the highest amount. France didn’t break any record.

Both Germany and France are members of the European Union, and their individual reflect the commitments by using each country's contributions to the overall EU budget and shares in the European Investment Bank. 

To keep things into perspective, and based on each country’s gross domestic product, Ukraine’s neighbors are providing the most support. Estonia and Latvia have each sent aid totaling more than one percent of their gross domestic product, according to the tracker. Lithuania, Poland and Bulgaria also stand out among the highest by share of GDP. 

Wealthy Switzerland, on the other hand, has committed aid representing only 0.03% of its GDP, the lowest for European countries in this data, while the US has committed 0.37% of its GDP. Heidi’s countrymen still love Russians’ money and that of its oligarchs!

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