Support now also from SPD
More and more politicians are demanding Taurus deliveries to Ukraine
08/06/2023 11:16 am
The FDP and the Greens have long advocated handing over Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. Ultimately, Kiev must be enabled to take action against military targets in Russia as well. Now an SPD politician is also taking their side and urging them to hurry.
Kiev has been demanding Taurus cruise missiles from Germany for months. While representatives from the FDP and Greens have been signaling support for some time, the SPD is now also supporting corresponding deliveries. The SPD budget politician Andreas Schwarz warned in “Spiegel” against wasting time: “I see a déjà vu coming. As with the tank issue, we are now refusing to hand over important equipment that will probably be delivered in the end will,” said Black.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive is faltering, and the country does not have a significant air force to support it. “The only thing left is guided missiles such as Taurus cruise missiles, with which the Ukrainian army could overcome the minefields laid by the Russians and recapture territory,” said the rapporteur on the defense budget in the Bundestag’s budget committee. Ukraine wants to attack Russian positions far behind the front with cruise missiles as part of its counter-offensive.
Schwarz recalled the Chancellor’s and the entire federal government’s commitment to support Ukraine “as long as necessary”. “We want to put Ukraine in a position to win the war more quickly. To do this, they need Taurus-type air-to-surface cruise missiles,” emphasized the politician from Bamberg, Bavaria. There were also no technical reasons against the delivery: “With a few technical modifications, the weapons can also be fired from the non-Western fighter jets used in Ukraine so far,” said Schwarz, warning of the decision: “These modifications require but also time, which can be missing again in the end.”
In addition, Schwarz does not share the concern that Ukraine could attack targets in Russia with the guided missiles with a range of up to 500 kilometers. “Even with the Mars and Himar artillery systems that have already been delivered, the Ukrainians could reach Russian territory, which has so far been avoided,” he said.
Greens and FDP plead for delivery
Representatives of the Greens and FDP have long been open to the processing and sale of cruise missiles from Bundeswehr inventories. Greens defense politician Agnieszka Brugger rejected the argument of the risky range to “Spiegel”: “The range of the Taurus weapons is not an insoluble problem,” said the deputy parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag and suggested an agreement with Kiev: “Germany and the Ukraine can, for example, agree that certain areas will be excluded or that the weapons will only be used against militarily relevant targets, as international law allows Ukraine to defend itself,” said Brugger.
The Chair of the Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, said that “Ukraine, also with our support, must be able to take action against military targets – including on Russian soil – from which hundreds of missiles are launched into Ukraine every day “. According to the FDP politician, Germany should join Great Britain, which is already supplying cruise missiles.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius made it clear on Thursday when he visited a mountain infantry brigade in Bavaria that “there will be no delivery”. The concerns, however, are obvious. “We’re not the only ones who don’t deliver,” said the SPD politician. “Our American allies don’t supply these cruise missiles either. Ours have a special range.”