Copyright AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu Share this article Comments Several key Western European countries including the UK, Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands have slashed their aid budgets considerably in the last few months. This trend comes amid escalating geopolitical tensions and global economic uncertainty, as countries choose to focus more on their own needs, such as increasing defence spending and domestic government stimulus measures. Foreign aid is mainly measured through Official Development Assistance (ODA), which wealthier nations offer developing countries. The Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development recommends that donor nations try to allocate at least 0.7 per cent of their Gross National Income (GNI) to foreign aid. Belgium has revealed that it will be cutting its aid funding by 25 per cent over five years, while the Netherlands has reduced it by 30 per cent and France by 37 per cent. These budget trims could have potentially devastating consequences for vulnerable countries which rely heavily on foreign financial aid, such as Tanzania, Bangladesh and Zambia . The aid cuts could also derail the climate finance goals developed countries pledged to meet at COP29 back in November 2024. Why are so many European countries cutting aid budgets? Political changes, such as far right parties coming into power in Finland and Sweden, have heavily influenced aid cuts. European conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the threat of an escalating trade war with the US have also led to nations prioritising defence spending over aid money. The UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer announced in February that aid levels would be slashed from the current 0.5 per cent of GNI to a historically low 0.3 per cent of GNI by 2027. The country has been systematically reducing aid funding in the last few years, due to a lagging post-Brexit economy […]