Government
Scholz and Attal strengthen German-French cooperation
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal give a press conference in the Federal Chancellery. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Especially in view of the current crises in the world, Chancellor Scholz and France’s new prime minister want to work together. But they don’t agree on all topics.
Scholz once again called for military support for Ukraine not to decrease. “I strongly advocate that the USA and Europe and all member states in Europe make such a large contribution that the Russian President’s calculation of sitting this thing out doesn’t work.” Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes that at some point Western allies will no longer want to support Ukraine. “And that is the message that must be clearly sent to him from both the USA and Europe: This calculation does not work. We will support Ukraine.”
Weapons deliveries to Ukraine
Last week at the summit in Brussels, Scholz urged EU partners to provide more military aid to Ukraine. The appeal was aimed primarily at economically strong countries such as Italy, Spain and France. Attal said France would continue to support Ukraine financially and with technical and military equipment. However, he emphasized that the quality of the weapons supplied also matters. It must meet “the highest standards necessary to enable Ukrainians to defend themselves.”
In this context, Attal mentioned that France has already delivered Scalp cruise missiles. Scholz, however, does not want to give the even more powerful German Taurus rockets to Ukraine. In terms of volume, however, Germany is by far Ukraine’s most important arms supplier in the EU and the second most important overall after the USA.
Confidence in joint armaments project
The two politicians appeared optimistic about their joint arms projects. With regard to the future air combat system FCAS and the main battle tank project MGCS, Scholz said: “I want to expressly say that I see both projects on the right track and also think that the cooperation between our two countries there is very intensive.” Attal also said he believes in the ability to move forward on both projects. “I believe that there is an absolute will of our two countries and, above all, an absolute interest, which is reinforced by the return of war to the European continent.”
Scholz also said he had only recently seen the progress being made at FCAS. “That’s why my impression is one of confidence that this big project, which we need for our common future, will also be successful.”
The Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) is intended as a successor to both countries’ Leopard and Leclerc tanks and is expected to be operational over the next decade. The FCAS air combat system is expected to be operational from 2040 and will replace the Eurofighter. It is intended to fly in conjunction with unarmed and armed drones and is therefore more than just a combat aircraft. Spain has also been involved in the project since 2019.