Robert Habeck's statements about arms deliveries to Ukraine caused quite a stir.
Merkel's spokesman reacted coldly.
Now Habeck and Baerbock are rowing back.
Robert Habeck is currently visiting the front line in eastern Ukraine.
Shortly before that, he had spoken out in favor of arms deliveries to the area, for which he was clearly criticized
(see first report)
.
In the meantime, the Greens co-boss has rowed back and stressed that he only meant defensive weapons
(see update from May 26, 12 noon)
.
After the federal government had rejected Habeck's statements
(see update from May 26th, 5:58 pm)
, the green candidate for Chancellor Annalena Baerbock also commented
(see update from May 26th, 10:36 pm)
.
Update from May 26, 10:36 p.m
.: Green leader Robert Habeck's demand for arms deliveries to Ukraine caused waves and in some
cases met with
great criticism. After Habeck had rowed back in the meantime, the designated Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock also tried to smooth things over on Wednesday evening. At the same time, however, she reaffirmed her party's negative attitude towards arms deliveries to war zones. "That is also in our program, and we both see it as party chairmen," she said on the ARD program
Maischberger. The week
.
Baerbock also said: “This morning Robert Habeck made it very clear that it is not about defensive weapons, but - as we have also recently made clear - about ammunition clearance, about the recovery of wounded people, civilians, with armored vehicles and also the question of supporting the OSCE mission. "
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE for short, is acting as a mediator and observer in the Ukraine crisis.
"The OSCE project coordinator supports the reforms in Ukraine and helps the country to tackle the challenges that arise from the crisis," said the conference of states, which is committed to securing peace around the world.
The use of weapons is refused.
The special observer mission is "an unarmed, civilian mission that operates around the clock in all regions of Ukraine."
Habeck calls for arms deliveries to Ukraine: Merkel's spokesman is now giving him a cold run
Update from May 26th, 5:58 p.m
.: Green leader Robert Habeck's call for arms deliveries to the Ukraine comes to nothing.
There is criticism from almost all sides.
After Habeck's initiative, the federal government has now confirmed its no.
"We are pursuing a restrictive and responsible arms export policy and with regard to the Ukraine we do not issue any permits for war weapons," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert in Berlin on Wednesday.
"I can only speak for this federal government in this legislative period - and nothing will change there," added Seibert.
A spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office said that he was not aware of any current requests from Ukraine for arms deliveries.
+
Green leader Robert Habeck visits the front line in eastern Ukraine.
© Klaus Remme / picture alliance
The day before, shortly before a visit to the front line in eastern Ukraine, Habeck had spoken out in favor of the arms deliveries (
see initial report
).
"In my opinion, weapons for defense and self-defense can hardly be denied to Ukraine, defensive weapons," he told Deutschlandfunk, but has since rowed back again (
see previous update
).
Individual Green MPs also distanced themselves from their party chairman (
see update from May 26, 9.45 a.m.
).
Zoff with the Greens: Habeck irritated with a statement about arms deliveries - and rowed back again
Update from May 26th, 12 noon:
Green leader Robert Habeck is sticking to his demand for the delivery of defensive weapons to Ukraine despite severe criticism from his own party. "Ukraine is not only fighting for itself here, but Ukraine is also defending the security of Europe," said Habeck on Wednesday on Deutschlandfunk. If Ukraine “falls”, it is “an invitation to Russia to allow other conflicts to escalate as well.” Habeck showed understanding that his statements caused unrest in his own party. "Greens have a pacifist tradition, and it is good that we are having a hard time dealing with the arms debate as a whole," he said. "It is a title of honor of the party that you do not immediately rush after every war cry." But the Greens also have "a long tradition of helping Ukraine".
The Green leader was impressed by his visit to the front line in eastern Ukraine, where government troops and pro-Russian rebels face each other. The Ukrainian forces are exposed there to Russian snipers - "and then to say that we do all of this with diplomatic matters, with diplomatic talks, is of course correct, but nevertheless night vision equipment, reconnaissance equipment, ordnance disposal and medivacs should be made available".
The Green leader emphasized that he had "consciously" spoken of defensive weapons for Ukraine - even though it was clear to him that such weapons could be misappropriated.
"Of course, a machine gun can be set up and stationed on armored vehicles," he said.
“That's why it's a weapon.
But essentially these things are there and are ordered to transport the injured, for example. "
Zoff with the Greens: Habeck irritated with a statement about arms deliveries - and rowed back again
Update from May 26, 9.45 a.m.:
Robert Habeck is
facing
strong headwinds for his proposal to deliver (defensive) weapons to Ukraine - also from within his own ranks. "Arms exports to Ukraine would contradict our principle that we do not export arms to war zones," said the former Green Party leader Jürgen Trittin, the
editorial network Germany
(RND). “The previous common European position is that the conflict in Ukraine can only be resolved politically and not militarily. Arms deliveries further undermine the implementation of the Minsk Agreement. ”Trittin, on the other hand, spoke out in favor of strengthening the organization for security and cooperation in Europe (OSCE) 's intelligence capabilities. Weapons cannot be clearly defined as defensive either. "Every defense weapon can also be used offensively."
The Greens co-chairman himself defended his statement and specified it at the same time: "Ukraine is not only fighting for itself here, it is also defending the security of Europe," said Habeck on Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday after a visit to the front line. With a view to their conflict with Russia, he added: "Ukraine feels left alone in terms of security policy, and it is left alone." Technology for the transport and care of the injured. "I related that purely to Ukraine, to the specific situation, to the annexation of Crimea, to the shooting, to the soldiers." He does not advocate arms deliveries to other states.
Habeck irritates with a statement about arms deliveries: SPD questions the Greens' ability to govern
First report from May 25th, 9 p.m .:
Mariupol - It is an image that is not at all associated with the pacifist Greens: with a protective vest and steel helmet, party leader Robert Habeck pays a visit to the front line in eastern Ukraine.
But the really remarkable thing about the matter happened before the visit, after Habeck, who does not always agree with his co-chair Annalena Baerbock, met the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj.
He told Deutschlandfunk: "In my opinion, weapons for defense, self-defense, defensive weapons, can hardly be denied to Ukraine."
This sentence is now flying around the ears of the Greens chairman.
While the Ukrainian ambassador Andrii Melnyk welcomed the statement and called on the German government to give up its refusal to accept arms deliveries, it sparked opposition in the ranks of the Greens.
Only 0.03 percent of the German government's arms deliveries go to Ukraine
The Green armaments expert Katja Keul distanced herself from Habeck's position.
Support came from the Bundestag member Manuel Sarrazin, who accompanied Habeck in the Ukraine.
Ukraine needs "very specific ways to strengthen its defensive, because it is acutely threatened," he said.
With his statement, the Green leader also contradicts the current arms export guidelines of the federal government, which in their original version were an achievement of the red-green government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Vice Chancellor Joschka Fischer.
These prohibit the approval of arms deliveries to countries "that are involved in armed conflict or where one is threatened".
As a result, there have been hardly any arms deliveries to Ukraine in recent years.
In 2018 and 2019, the federal government allowed exports for 2.1 million euros each - mainly hunting and sporting weapons.
In 2019, this corresponded to just 0.03 percent of all export permits issued by the federal government worth more than eight billion euros.
Habeck for arms delivery to Ukraine: SPD and left criticize the move
This is also because the German government has no interest in further fueling the conflict in eastern Ukraine. "An armament in Ukraine would use Russia as a pretext for its own troops in the Crimea, in eastern Ukraine and on the Russian-Ukrainian border," said CDU foreign politician Jürgen Hardt to the
RND
.
Sharp criticism also came from the SPD.
"The demand to deliver so-called defensive weapons to Ukraine is frivolous and underlines once again how insincere and incapable of government the Greens are currently acting," said parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich to
Der Spiegel
.
Habeck misunderstood the complex crisis management in the region and the internal situation in Ukraine.
Left-wing foreign politician Sevim Dagdelen said arms deliveries to Ukraine would escalate the conflict further.
"With the demand for arms deliveries to Ukraine, Greens leader Robert Habeck is falling behind the German government and is deliberately undermining the ban on arms exports to crisis and conflict areas," she said.
The Greens actually want to end arms exports to war and crisis areas
The Greens traditionally advocate a restrictive arms export policy. The party leadership's draft for the election manifesto states that the Greens wanted to end “European arms exports to war and crisis areas with restrictive export controls”.
There is no doubt that Ukraine is at least partially a crisis area. In eastern Ukraine, there has been a conflict between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government troops for seven years, in which the UN estimates that more than 13,000 people have been killed. After a worsening this spring, the Ukrainian government demanded arms deliveries from the west.
Habeck, who lost the race for the candidacy for chancellor against Baerbock, emphasized that of course the Greens were a party that came out of pacifism.
"But if you deal a little with this conflict, you can at least not deny help for self-help, for defense."
Arms delivery for Ukraine?
Ambassador speaks of Germany's historical responsibility
The Ukrainian ambassador Melnyk called for anti-aircraft guns, defense systems for the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas, corvettes, speedboats, submarines, anti-tank missiles and “other defensive weapons” - also from Germany. “The way of German arms exports to Ukraine for our self-defense must finally be cleared. That would cool hot heads and hot spurs in the Kremlin, bring them to their senses and prevent a large-scale attack on Moscow in time. "
Ukraine must be supported by Germany just like Israel with arms deliveries, said Melnyk. “Kiev has the same right to self-defense as Israel, which is repeatedly attacked and threatened. At the same time, Germany of all people bears the same historical responsibility for Ukraine's right to exist as it does for the State of Israel, ”he said, referring to the millions of Ukrainian victims in World War II.
For Israel, the federal government is making an exception when it bans arms exports in crisis regions. The country purchases submarines and warships from Germany, among other things. The federal government approves and even promotes these exports financially in some cases, justifying this with Germany's particular historical responsibility for Israel's security because of the Holocaust.
(dpa)
