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Chancellor Olaf Scholz under pressure over Taurus missiles

2024-03-14 08:36:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Some politicians of the ruling coalition together with the Christian Democrats in the opposition demand the supply of Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Scholz continues to reject this. Could the chancellor lose support in the Bundestag?

"I am the chancellor, and therefore this counts." Olaf Scholz spoke a word of power. He rejects the delivery to Ukraine of German missiles with a range of 500 km. He believes that these weapons can only be used with the cooperation of German soldiers and this could involve Germany in the war. Even during a session of questions in the parliament he repeated about Taurus: "This is the limit that I, as chancellor, do not want to cross."

But his word of power seems to have no effect. Because some of his own people are leaving the chancellor regarding the supply of Taurus missiles: Politicians from his coalition with the Social Democrats, Environmentalists and Liberal Democrats (FDP) are collaborating with the Christian Democratic/Christian Social opposition (CDU/CSU).

Green politician Anton Hofreiter now writes together with CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen in an invited article for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. In the article, they accuse Scholz of a "catastrophic defensive" stance as well as perjury. When the chancellor claims that the supply of Taurus missiles makes Germany a party to the war, this is "factually and legally wrong".

Distanced in the ranks of ecologists and FDP

It is a strong blow for the chancellor to read something like this from the people of his government's coalition. But there may be others who are distancing themselves. The conservative union CDU and CSU in February submitted a request to the Bundestag to supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles, but failed with this request. Then, of the deputies of the government coalition, only the FDP politician, defense policy expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann voted with the opposition.

Now the conservatives want to resubmit the request to parliament and hope for more support. Strack-Zimmermann, however, will again vote together with the conservative opposition. Anton Hofreiter, despite speaking out against the chancellor, has not yet decided how he will vote. The Foreign Minister from the ecological party, Annalena Baerbock, has repeatedly hinted that it is for the supply of these missiles to Ukraine.

Fierce attacks of the CDU

Meanwhile, militarily, Ukraine is feeling in an increasingly difficult position. And this has consequences for Germany, thinks the politician for security issues in the CDU party, Roderich Kiesewetter: "It should be clear: If Putin does not stop in Ukraine, then the risk of war increases massively for all of us!", Kiesewetter told to DW.

Kiesewetter rejects Scholz's 'expressed reservations', calling them 'false reasons': "What is really behind this? Either he is scared by Russian disinformation, or he won't make Ukraine win the war, but negotiate with Putin a diktat for a fake peace" – an accusation that Scholz firmly rejects.

The idea of ??an exchange chain

Germany's partners are also trying to influence the chancellor and remove his reservations about the supply of Taurus missiles. The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg draws attention in the context of the Taurus debate: "This includes the military assistance of the NATO countries to Ukraine. He welcomes the supply of Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles from Great Britain and France However, these missiles have a shorter range compared to the Taurus.

As a compromise British Foreign Secretary David Cameron recently proposed an indirect exchange. Under this system, Great Britain will continue to supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow and may itself purchase Taurus systems. For Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock this could be "an option". Even other politicians from among environmentalists apparently want a joint statement about this indirect supply system.

A former general comes to Scholz's side

Even an indirect supply Scholz so far refuses. Some speculate that Scholz is afraid of the upcoming elections, so he wants to present himself as the chancellor of peace. "Prudence is not something you can define as a weakness, but prudence is the claim that citizens have," Scholz said during the question session in the Bundestag.

Meanwhile, support comes from a former general of the German Army. Helmut Ganser complains in an analysis for "Journal of International Politics and Society" that the consequences of using Taurus missiles are not considered at all. The most important goal, Ganser thinks, would be the strategically important Kerch bridge, from where the Russian mainland supplies Crimea and the entire southern front in the Ukrainian war." Not only Moscow, but (...) also at the international level of destruction of bridge is considered a German skill.

But the destruction of the bridge would not significantly improve the situation in Ukraine, ex-general Ganser draws attention. He warns of "incalculable dangers. The former general supports the chancellor with his refusal, "because Germany could thus be drawn deep into a gray area as a participant in the war".

Scholz's authority crumbles

Despite the fact that there are those who distance themselves from the chancellor, it is not at all clear how the chancellor will be able to achieve a majority for this request in the Bundestag. The Social Democrats are clearly in support of Scholz. The Left Party and the right-wing populists of the AfD would not want to help Kiev at all and would even prefer to support Scholz. So if the chancellor would find support from these parties, this would be a delicate issue politically. Even among the population, the chancellor has a majority who support him. According to recent polls, a majority of 61 respondents reject the delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine.

The agreement of the governing coalition clearly states that the parties in the coalition must show credibility.

It seems that the leaders of the parliamentary groups of FDP and ecologists let it be understood that they attach importance to the course of discipline of their deputies. But this does not exclude any disconnection. However, this issue has caused the chancellor to lose his authority./ DW