Federal Government
Strack-Zimmermann on Eurofighters: Deliver Taurus to Ukraine
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP): “Security policy also needs a values compass.” photo
© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
Foreign Minister Baerbock’s statement about a possible delivery of Eurofighter fighter jets to Saudi Arabia met with criticism – including within her own party.
The chairwoman of the Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, reacted cautiously to the possible opening to supply Eurofighters to Saudi Arabia. “Who “Eurofighter exported to Saudi Arabia must also immediately deliver the Taurus to Ukraine,” the FDP politician told the German Press Agency in Berlin. “Security policy also needs a values compass.”
According to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the federal government is open to supplying the fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. By intercepting rockets fired at Israel by the Yemeni Houthis, the country is contributing to Israel’s security and preventing a conflagration in the region, the Green politician said on Sunday in Israel. “It is precisely for this reason that we as the German federal government do not see ourselves opposing British considerations for additional Eurofighters for Saudi Arabia.”
The fighter jets are a European joint project in which Germany is involved and therefore has veto rights over export decisions. They are manufactured in Great Britain, which would be ready to deliver to Saudi Arabia.
The Taurus is one of the Air Force’s most modern missiles, which Ukraine has been hoping to deliver for a long time. The weapons find their target even from great heights and distances and can destroy bunkers, for example. At the beginning of October, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) decided not to deliver any Taurus cruise missiles for the time being. The fear behind this was that Russian territory could also be hit by the precision weapons with a range of 500 kilometers.
Criticism also from within his own party
Green politicians have criticized the traffic light government’s apparent about-face to stop stopping the delivery of Eurofighters to Saudi Arabia. The Green Party leader Ricarda Lang said on RBB Inforadio that the situation has changed since the Islamist Hamas attack on Israel, “because Saudi Arabia is taking on a different role than many would have expected years ago, and here also supports Israel”.
However, in view of the human rights situation and the internal state of Saudi Arabia, she still believes that a delivery of Eurofighters is wrong. “I think it would be right if we stick to the position that no Eurofighters will be delivered to Saudi Arabia.”
The defense policy spokeswoman for the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Sara Nanni, reminded the “Spiegel” (Monday) that the federal government had committed itself in the summer not to deliver any Eurofighters to the country. This happened for good reasons. “I expect the federal government to stick with it. It was less than five years ago that the Saudi-led alliance carried out large-scale bombings against Yemen.” Future Saudi wars would look similar.
Sharp criticism from Dagdelen
Bundestag member Sevim Dagdelen has sharply criticized a possible delivery of Eurofighter fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. “The delivery of the Eurofighter to Saudi Arabia is a political and moral oath of revelation by the federal government,” said the politician from the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance to the German Press Agency in Berlin.
“The credibility of the traffic light has fallen to a low point,” criticized Dagdelen. “The fatal decision is also massive electoral fraud, and the unworthy attempts at justification don’t help.”