Did France give 28 billion euros in aid to Ukraine?

Several Internet users claim that France has spent 28 billion euros in aid to Ukraine since the start of the war. But this amount is overestimated.

The resigning Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, alerted parliamentarians on Monday, September 2, about a possible slippage in public finances. Since then, everyone has been giving their own analysis. The minister points to the spending of local authorities, the Association of Mayors of France denounces a “maneuver”The rebellious deputy Éric Coquerel denounces the reduction in public revenue.

And on social media, Internet users have found other culprits: the aid paid to Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022. “Macron’s government has committed 28 billion in spending for Ukraine. We are standing on our heads”laments one of X. “Everyone is crying about France’s public deficit. Explain to me, then, why Macron gave 28 billion euros to Ukraine last year.”asks another. But are these figures true?

Internet users all refer to the same table that claims to faithfully estimate the amounts of aid paid by France to Ukraine, either directly or via European aid, and which was already shared on social networks in July. According to it, by February 29, 2024, two years after the start of the war, France had committed to paying 28 billion euros in aid to Ukraine, divided into 11.51 billion euros in direct aid, including 6.80 billion in military aid, and 16.47 billion euros in European aid.

Macron gave Zelensky 28 billion of public money in two https://t.co/VSWqMMO0tV meanwhile 120,000 French companies went bankrupt because the burdens they had to bear were too heavy pic.twitter.com/kddUi4VIeQ

— Jean-Bernard Pinatel (@jbpinatel) July 12, 2024

The table cites as its source the Kiel Institute, an independent German economic research institute, which is a completely reliable source. But, by consulting the data collected by the Kiel Institute from governments and European institutions and updated last June, the True or False of franceinfo found much lower figures.

In reality, France has so far spent around 15.7 billion euros in direct or indirect aid to Ukraine or Ukrainians in two and a half years. In total, it has committed 26.04 billion euros.

In detail, according to the Kiel Institute, France has paid 4.43 billion euros in bilateral aid, promised directly by Paris to kyiv. This is mainly military aid (3.04 billion euros) representing the total amount of rocket launchers, artillery, and armored vehicles sent to help Ukrainian soldiers. The rest is, on the one hand, humanitarian aid (600 million euros) and financial aid (800 million euros), almost all of which is a loan and not a donation.

The German institute adds to its tally an estimate of the cost of welcoming Ukrainian refugees to French territory. Estimate based on calculations by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). According to these models, France would have spent 3.7 billion euros for the benefit of Ukrainian refugees. Which brings the total to 8.12 billion euros in so-called direct aid to Ukraine or Ukrainians.

Added to this is the share of aid from the European Union and the European Investment Bank that is financed by France, a European extra-budgetary instrument that allows, among other things, the purchase of weapons for Ukraine. It amounts to 7.56 billion euros according to the Kiel Institute. In total, France has therefore spent 15.68 billion euros on Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees, directly or indirectly, in two and a half years, which is much lower than the 28 billion euros cited by Internet users.

On the other hand, if we look at the French spending promised for Ukraine added to the spending to help refugees, then we find a total of 26.04 billion euros, of which 7.04 billion euros are direct aid and 15.31 billion euros are the share of European aid. The financing of the European Peace Facility (EFF), a European extra-budgetary instrument that allows, among other things, the purchase of lethal weapons for Ukraine, is part of these calculations.