As of: March 7, 2024, 7:06 p.m
By: Franziska Schwarz
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Despite the Bundeswehr wiretapping scandal: Great Britain holds Germany accountable for Taurus long-range missiles.
London – The signs point to dissatisfaction.
London is reacting cautiously to the Bundeswehr wiretapping affair - and is increasing the pressure on the issue of German Taurus deliveries to Ukraine.
The former British Defense Minister Ben Wallace, for example, was particularly calm about Berlin: “We know that Germany is pretty much penetrated by Russian secret services.
This shows they are neither safe nor reliable,” he told the
Times
.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) justified his no by saying that Germany could then be drawn into the war - politicians from the coalition partners Greens and FDP as well as the Union, on the other hand, have spoken out in favor of Taurus deliveries, such as Wolfgang Kubicki in the
Münchner Merkur
.
Taurus wiretapping affair in the Bundeswehr just “irritating”?
Scholz is against supplying Taurus cruise missiles with a range of 500 kilometers to Ukraine for various reasons.
Among other things, because he fears attacks on Moscow.
According to information from the Guardian,
the wiretapping affair is
not viewed as serious in British circles.
Former British Ministry of Defense insiders told the newspaper that they found the leak "irritating" but "rather insignificant" as no details about the Taurus's effectiveness were leaked in the conversation.
Something else was now emphasized: “Britain was the first country to provide long-range precision strike missiles to Ukraine and we would encourage our allies to do the same,” a
Downing Street spokesman said, according to the
Guardian report.
Germany, “penetrated by Russian secret services?” (symbolic image) © xdiy_13x/Pond5 Images/Imago
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Wallace tackles Scholz: “Wrong man in the wrong job”
Last week, Wallace had already attacked Scholz over details about the British Storm Shadow operation in Ukraine: "As far as Europe's security is concerned, he is the wrong man in the wrong job at the wrong time,"
n-tv
quoted him as saying .
And former Army Chief Richard Dannatt, according to
Spiegel
on
Times Radio,
called for a “stern reprimand” of the German Air Force officers involved.
“They have suggested that there are British people in Ukraine.” But “commenting” on the presence of British military personnel in Ukraine is not their business.
British soldiers in Ukraine – displeasure with Scholz
The British have already been massively angry since Scholz first publicly explained the reasons for his rejection of a Taurus delivery a week ago.
“What the British and French are doing in terms of target control and the accompaniment of target control cannot be done in Germany,” said the Chancellor at the
dpa
editor-in-chief conference.
He left it open exactly what he meant by that.
However, the sentence was understood by some as an indication that the French and British would support the control of their Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, which were delivered to Ukraine, with their own forces.
(frs with dpa)