Status: 12/27/2022 01:12 a.m
Anyone who argues that tank deliveries to Ukraine cross a red line should tell the story of the aggressor: the FDP defense expert Strack-Zimmermann criticized the chancellery in clear terms.
The chair of the defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, has sharply criticized the chancellor’s stance on the issue of further arms deliveries to Ukraine. “I’m so tired of the excuses why we can’t deliver tanks,” said the FDP politician to the editorial network Germany. “Anyone who fantasizes about the concern that a red line would be crossed with Russia is telling the story of the aggressor, not that of the victims.”
Strack-Zimmermann also accused the chancellor’s office of repeatedly acting too late in the past few months with regard to arms deliveries to Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s advisors are “always behind the curve and don’t think strategically at all”. Now in the winter “belong to Ukrainian soldiers trained on the Marder and Leopard 2,” she said. Despite requests from Kyiv, the German government has so far refused to hand over modern Leopard and Marder tanks to Ukraine.
“The free western world is waiting impatiently”
Preparations would have to be made immediately in order to “finally get in front of the wave and deliver the material that would have a major impact in just a few weeks”. All threads “run together with the chancellor,” said Strack-Zimmermann. “The free western world is waiting impatiently for Germany to act.” So far, however, there has been no strategy in Ukraine policy, “that’s the problem.”
Germany must “design a scenario with its partners as to how the support should continue in the coming months,” said Strack-Zimmermann. For example, preventive material must be delivered “where bottlenecks are already emerging”. A close exchange with the Ukrainian army and the NATO partners is necessary.