German Chancellor Olaf Scholz poses an increasing risk to security in Europe, said Roderich Kiesewetter, one of the leaders of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and a member of the German Bundestag. The chancellor refuses to provide Ukraine with Taurus missiles with a range of up to 500 km, and the publication in Moscow of an overheard conversation between Luftwaffe leaders who refute Scholz's explanation has sown discord in Berlin and Europe.
Source. This was reported by moscowtimes.eu.
After such a special operation by Moscow, the chances of the chancellor's position changing (as it was with the Leopard 2 tanks) and Ukraine receiving missiles are greatly reduced, experts and politicians believe. "Russia has managed to create the perfect political dilemma for Germany," says Christian Melling, a military analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations, quoted by the Financial Times. "Now it will be much more difficult for Scholz to reassess the situation and change his position on Taurus.
These cruise missiles are highly accurate and destructive, and with a range of 500 km, can reach as far as Moscow.
Scholz explained his refusal by saying that German military personnel should be deployed in Ukraine to program the missiles. This has already been done by the UK and France, which have provided Ukraine with their long-range missiles, Scholz said, prompting irritated comments from London and Paris, which were unhappy with the leak.
Such a move would have dragged Germany into a war, added Scholz, who is trying hard to avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia:
"German soldiers should never be associated with the targets that these missiles reach."
But that doesn't have to be the case, senior German military officials, including Air Force Commander Ingo Gerharts, said during the intercepted 40-minute conversation. The generals not only discussed sending the Taurus to Ukraine without the participation of their military (and Ukrainian specialists, they said, could be trained in Germany), but also expressed surprise at Scholz's position.
"No one really understands why the chancellor is blocking" the delivery of the missiles, Gerhartz said.
They also noted that with the Taurus, Ukraine would be able to more easily disable strategic targets, such as the Kerch Bridge, which, according to one officer, would require 10-20 missiles to destroy.
"The leak officially confirms that the chancellor was not telling the truth," said Norbert Retgen, a member of the Bundestag's foreign affairs committee from the CDU.
Even members of the ruling coalition are critical of Scholz's actions. According to Green Party MP Anton Hofreiter, Scholz is "clearly telling a lie" because Germany supplied 260 Taurus missiles to South Korea without any targeting services as described by the chancellor.
Background. As a reminder, Scholz has found a new reason not to transfer Taurus missiles to Ukraine. He believes that these missiles can only be controlled by German soldiers.