Status: 05.02.2022 12:57 p.m
Left parliamentary group leader Bartsch has approved the government’s course of not supplying arms to Ukraine. Before Scholz’s visit to Washington, the USA is putting pressure on: Germany should reconsider its position.
The chairman of the left-wing parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, welcomed the course taken by the federal government in the Ukraine conflict. Bartsch said that rbb, it is good that Chancellor Olaf Scholz is traveling to Kiev and Moscow. It’s about dialogue and a de-escalating, clever policy of detente: “It’s important that we don’t keep talking about this war. In my opinion, arms deliveries are completely wrong.”
“Weapons will be delivered in case of war”
Peace in Europe can only be enforced with and not against Russia. Bartsch said he expects the federal government to stick to its no on arms deliveries: “Weapons are supplied in the event of war – and war must never be a political tool and Germany must not support it.” He thinks it’s wrong to deliver 5,000 helmets to Ukraine. Bartsch also advocated resuming talks in the Normandy format.
Scholz will fly to Kiev and Moscow for talks in ten days. The previous Monday he met US President Joe Biden during his inaugural visit to Washington. According to information from government circles, the focus will also be on the Ukraine crisis and the tensions between the West and Russia.
US Senator warns of dramatic consequences
Before the inaugural visit, US Senator Jim Risch called on the federal government to reconsider its course in the Ukraine conflict. “A large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine will have dramatic effects on the whole of Europe – including Germany,” the senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee told the dpa news agency.
“While I’m aware of Germany’s longstanding policy on arms sales, the situation in Ukraine, and NATO allies agree on this, is so unique that Germany should reconsider its stance.”
Röttgen appeals to Scholz
The CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen demanded a clear commitment from Scholz to loyalty to the alliance before his visit to Biden. “For the first time in the USA, the reliability of Germany as an ally has come into doubt across the board. That is dramatic and alarming,” said the Bundestag news agency dpa. “Through his demeanor and his clear statements, Chancellor Scholz should make it easy for President Biden to continue to rely on Germany.”
Röttgen called Risch’s position justifiable. “But there are also good arguments for the German position.” Germany supports Ukraine more financially, economically and in state building than any other country. “German arms deliveries would come at the price of destroying opportunities for talks with Moscow that others don’t have. Some people want that, but that would be of no use to anyone.”
Strack-Zimmermann calls on Ukraine to exercise moderation
The chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, called for moderation in the debate on arms deliveries.
“I have the greatest understanding that the nerves of the Ukrainian representatives in Kiev are on edge given the threat from the Russian army. But I have no understanding for the constant verbal gaffes on the part of some Ukrainian voices towards us,” said the FDP politician to the news agency dpa.
The Ukrainian side had vehemently and repeatedly demanded arms deliveries from Germany as well. “In recent years Germany has given Ukraine a lot of help out of responsibility and friendship. In the heat of the emotional battle, the Ukrainian representatives should therefore please not confuse friend and foe,” warned Strack-Zimmermann. “A little moderation would be in order.”
“increase deterrent effect”
CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter spoke out in favor of selective arms deliveries to Ukraine. These would “help to increase the deterrent effect in order to change Putin’s calculations and Russia’s escalation dominance,” Kiesewetter told the “Rheinische Post” and the Bonn “General-Anzeiger”. A “credible reaction by Germany to the threat to Ukraine from Russia” is needed.
Specifically, the CDU politician named deliveries for telecommunications reconnaissance, jammers against Russian communications, night vision devices, anti-tank technology or anti-aircraft missiles, “i.e. rather defensive weapons”.
Well-known artists sign the appeal
Meanwhile, voices from art and culture are also in favor of a dialogue with Russia: more than 350 authors and artists, some of whom are well-known, signed an appeal directed against a military threat to Ukraine by Russia and the “immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from the borders of Ukraine”.
“We appeal to the political leaders to resolutely oppose Putin’s aggression,” says the appeal, which was initiated by the artist couple Wolf and Pamela Biermann, the actor Burgardt Klaußner and the cultural manager Ulrich Schreiber. It was signed by, among others, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Herta Müller, the writer Ian McEwan and the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.