As of: February 29, 2024, 12:02 p.m
By: Stefan Schmid
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Olaf Scholz was accused of lying because of his rejection of Taurus missiles for Ukraine.
Now security conference boss Heusgen follows up with arguments.
Berlin/Munich – There has been discussion for months about whether Germany should deliver the Taurus air-to-surface cruise missile to Ukraine.
Until recently, all that was reported from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was a long hesitation and a rejection from October 2023 - without any deeper justification.
When Scholz subsequently submitted this, he immediately received criticism.
Christoph Heusgen, head of the Munich Security Conference, agrees - and hopes that the Chancellor will change his mind due to "unsound" arguments.
Taurus debate: Siko boss Heusgen rejects Scholz's argument
Scholz justified his clear no to Taurus deliveries, among other things, with the opportunities that would be opened up for Ukraine.
Siko boss Heusgen now contradicted the Chancellor's reasoning.
The arguments presented were not valid, he told the
editorial network Germany
: "I am not giving up hope that this 'no' is not final."
Security Conference head Christoph Heusgen continues to hope for the Taurus delivery to Ukraine.
© IMAGO/Xinhua
Ukraine has so far limited itself to attacking Russian troops on Ukrainian soil, said Heusgen.
On the other hand, there is the technically available option for Ukrainian troops to attack Russian territory with Taurus cruise missiles.
The cruise missile has a maximum range of up to over 500 kilometers and enormous destructive power.
Ukraine justified its request to Germany to deliver Taurus cruise missiles by saying it wanted to target Russian warehouses and supply routes far behind the front.
While Scholz does not want any German cruise missiles in the Ukraine war, France and Great Britain have already handed over Scalp and Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine.
A large number of successful attacks have been documented since then.
However, there are no prominent reports of attacks on Russian territory under international law.
Heusgen relies on Ukrainian know-how at the Taurus
Scholz's rejection of the delivery of the Taurus cruise missiles is also due to the Chancellor's fear that Germany could be directly linked to possible launches.
“German soldiers must not be linked at any point or place to the goals that this system achieves.
Not even in Germany,” said Scholz on Monday (February 26) during a
dpa
editorial conference.
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The Chancellor's argument: Ukraine would be dependent on the help of German soldiers to operate the weapon system.
This is “not valid,” countered Siko boss Heusgen: “South Korea has the Taurus in use without Bundeswehr soldiers and the Ukrainians can also handle modern weapons.” So is Scholz using the Ukrainian troops’ apparent lack of know-how as a pretext?
An assessment that at least coalition partners and experts share.
Scholz receives support for his Taurus decision in a survey
During the discussions about a possible Taurus delivery, it was often pointed out that the targeting control of the cruise missile could be adjusted before delivery - and attacks across the Ukrainian border would therefore be ruled out.
Speculation about Great Britain and France having such an influence on programming has been around for a long time, and has now been given new fodder by Scholz.
“What the British and French are doing in terms of target control and the accompaniment of target control cannot be done in Germany,” said Olaf Scholz.
Many experts may question his argument - but in a survey, Scholz receives support from the population.
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