As of: February 23, 2024, 8:20 a.m
By: Marcus Mäckler
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A Taurus cruise missile from the German Bundeswehr at an exhibition in Berlin (archive photo, June 2022).
© Imago/Arnulf Hettrich
The Bundestag is calling on the traffic light coalition to supply Ukraine with “long-range weapon systems and ammunition” – what does that mean?
Munich – The role of the uncomfortable is not new to her, but this time she is reluctant to play it.
The traffic light parties' Ukraine proposal is “really good,” says Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP).
With one exception: Taurus does not appear in it.
The Union is clearer on this, which is why it voted for their proposal.
She doesn’t want to “one day be accused of not having done the right thing at the right moment.”
It sounds serious, and it is.
Two years after Russia's attack, Ukraine is in dire straits.
German Taurus cruise missiles could help it destroy Russian supply routes, experts say.
The CDU and CSU are applying pressure, the Chancellor is being cautious.
It's been like this for months.
Even after yesterday's debate in the Bundestag, there is hardly any clarity.
Does the application include Taurus?
Pistorius doesn't want to commit
The Union proposal, which expressly calls for Taurus deliveries, clearly fails.
Only Strack-Zimmermann followed parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz's request that the traffic light MPs join in.
However, Parliament accepts the traffic light proposal, which at least leaves some room for interpretation.
It says it is calling on the government to deliver “long-range weapons systems and ammunition” that will enable Kiev to launch “targeted attacks on strategically relevant targets far to the rear of the Russian aggressor.”
Many MPs think that this is nothing more than a euphemism for Taurus.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) does not want to commit himself.
When asked whether the wording includes Taurus, he says briefly: “I can't answer that.” He didn't work on the application, but he read it.
“The applicants will have thought about their part.” The deputy parliamentary group leader of the SPD, Gabriela Heinrich, calls it a question of interpretation.
Taurus is meant “not necessarily”.
But “no red line was drawn”.
Strack-Zimmermann in an interview: Taurus?
“Ask the Chancellor”
Clear commitment to Taurus deliveries has so far failed, mainly because of the SPD
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was not in the Bundestag yesterday, avoided the question at the Munich Security Conference, not saying yes, but not saying no either, which was interpreted positively in Kiev.
The application reflects that.
The clear commitment has so far failed, mainly because of the SPD, which points to an alleged risk of escalation.
This doesn't make sense to many people.
Scholz should finally explain “what the big problem with the Taurus delivery is,” says CDU MP Johann Wadephul.
"Nobody knows."
Yesterday's debate was also about the big picture, the question of whether Germany is doing enough overall.
There is little that is surprising; the poles have been clear for a long time: the edges are against the center.
The AfD politician Alexander Gauland accuses the traffic light of not striving for a negotiated solution - Gregor Gysi (Left) and Sevim Dağdelen (BSW) also see it that way.
The latter complains that the Union wants to “cross the threshold of Germany’s direct participation in the war.”
Pistorius, more than irritated, speaks of “Moscow’s two fifth columns, left and right”.
Strack-Zimmermann fears that Taurus' hesitation will play into Putin's hands
The majority, however, agree: Putin's Russia is "the greatest threat to freedom and peace on our entire continent," says Merz.
“Appeasements and appeasements” were of no use, on the contrary.
You have to ask yourself whether you are doing enough.
This is of course meant to be rhetorical.
Strack-Zimmermann fears that Taurus' hesitation will play into Putin's hands.
It's like the leopard discussion, she says.
In the end they came, but the Russians used the time of struggle to prepare.
This is also why Kiev's counteroffensive failed.
(Marcus Mäckler)