German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) has rejected the deployment of Taurus missiles to Ukraine in its party platform for the upcoming February elections, the Berliner Morgenpost reported on Dec. 12. The report was published on May 15th, citing the leaked draft plan.
Scholz has long steadfastly refused to give Ukraine its Taurus long-range missiles, even though other major supporters of Ukraine, including the United States, have provided long-range weapons.
Scholz has repeatedly rejected Kiev’s requests for cruise missiles for fear of drawing his country into war, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has previously said Germany’s refusal to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles is , suggested it was related to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear saber rampage.
The SPD’s program reportedly states: “We support Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s decision not to hand over Taurus cruise missiles from the Bundeswehr’s fleet,” adding that handing over the weapons “will be carried out with caution.” He added that it should be done with a “sense of proportion”.
Despite the weapons denial, the plan also states that “SPD remains clearly committed to providing diplomatic, military, financial, and humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people in their fight against Russian aggression, which is contrary to international law, for as long as necessary.” It also indicates that there is
The SPD’s plan is in stark contrast to that of German chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has previously expressed support for providing Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Merz, whose conservative CDU-CSU coalition is leading in opinion polls ahead of the February 23 general election, previously traveled to Kiev to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and urge him to be more decisive about long-range attacks on Russia. He promised a strategy that
“We want your military to be able to attack Russian military bases, not civilians or infrastructure, but military targets where your country is being attacked,” Merz said.
Still, Merz said in an interview with Bild newspaper that the Swedish-German cruise missiles, which have a range of 500 kilometers (310 miles), do not change the “miraculous” situation of the war.
The politician also stressed that he agrees with Mr Scholz’s opinion that Germany should not become a party to the war, but that neither the UK nor the US should be a party to the belligerents when lifting restrictions on the weapons they provide. He pointed out that it was not.
In the section of the CDU’s election platform on foreign and security policy, the CDU reportedly pledged to continue supporting Ukraine with “all necessary diplomatic, financial, humanitarian and military assistance.”
Germany’s CDU party emphasizes support for Ukraine in election program, reports Europa Pravda
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), one of Germany’s main political parties, has reaffirmed its support for Ukraine as part of its platform for the next German parliamentary election, European newspaper Pravda reported on December 14.
