Protection of Ukrainian airspace
Security politicians bring Western soldiers into play
May 11, 2024, 10:38 a.m
Since the start of the major attack, no place in Ukraine has been safe. In order to relieve the country at least somewhat, security politicians from the CDU, FDP and Greens are proposing to deploy troops on NATO’s eastern border to shoot down “unmanned Russian missiles” over Ukraine.
Leading members of the Bundestag from the CDU, FDP and Greens are considering protecting parts of the airspace over Ukraine from NATO territory with Western air defense. In discussions with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” they supported a corresponding proposal that had been put forward by military expert Nico Lange from the Munich Security Conference, among others. In his opinion, “a safe zone up to 70 kilometers wide could be created” on Ukraine’s borders with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
On behalf of the Union faction, its spokesman for crisis prevention, Roderich Kiesewetter, said that such a deployment on NATO’s eastern border would allow Western countries to shoot down “unmanned Russian missiles” over Ukraine. “This would relieve the burden on Ukrainian air defenses and allow them to protect the front.” The example of Israel, where anti-aircraft units from America, Great Britain, France and other countries helped repel a large Iranian air attack in April, shows that participating states do not necessarily have to become “warring parties” in such a case.
Marcus Faber from the FDP, who will probably soon head the Defense Committee, also noted that “the airspace over the Ukrainian border regions” could in principle be “protected by air defense systems on NATO territory.” However, batteries and rockets are already in short supply. Therefore, the necessary ammunition must be secured in the long term. “Under this condition, I think it is possible,” said Faber.
The Greens also agreed. The deputy group leader Agnieszka Brugger supported the idea of ”stationing air defense systems at the borders of the neighboring countries so that the western parts of Ukraine can also be protected.” Her party colleague Anton Hofreiter, the chairman of the European Committee, joined in. “Air defense over Ukraine, from Poland and Romania, should not be ruled out in the long term,” he said. However, this is currently “not up for debate”. At the moment, the main thing is to deliver “significantly more” to Ukraine itself as part of Western arms aid.