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“important today”
FDP defense expert Strack-Zimmermann: “Ukraine basically needs twice as many self-propelled howitzers”
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), Chair of the Defense Committee in the German Bundestag, on “important today”: “Russia has shown that crossing borders and rolling tanks is nothing theoretical”
© Michael Kappeler
The West is suspicious of China’s threatening gestures against the island nation of Taiwan. But western democracies have to show their edge early on, says FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann: “Putin thought we were all completely stupid and soft.” That shouldn’t happen in China.
“The brutal force with which Putin invaded Ukraine […] has lowered the inhibition threshold for other raids,” fears the FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann in “today important”. The war in Ukraine is not nearly over, but new and old trouble spots are already (again) before the China is threatening the island state of Taiwan, for example, very acutely – a direct consequence of the war in Ukraine, says Strack-Zimmermann in the 335th episode of the morning podcast: “Russia has shown that crossing borders and rolling tanks is nothing theoretical. But it can happen again at any time. And that’s what’s really worrying.”
FDP defense expert Strack-Zimmermann: “Democracy and the western world is strong”
Should China actually attack Taiwan, this attack would also have a massive impact on Germany. The Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich published calculations on Monday showing that an economic war with China could be six times as expensive as Brexit. Germany could lose 0.81 percent of its gross domestic product.
But the West can no longer afford to look the other way, as in so many other conflicts, is how FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann describes the situation: “We now have an open conflict: the free world that accepts human rights and lives democracy , against the world of despots and arbitrariness.” That’s why the visit of the high-ranking US Democrat Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan was the right thing to do, Strack-Zimmermann believes: “In the free world we can’t start asking despots what we’re allowed to do and what we’re not allowed to do. If we do that, we need to we can’t talk about anything anymore.”
“It’s not bad faith that the ring exchange doesn’t work that way”
Nevertheless, one can already see that, for example, the ring exchange does not work properly. In the so-called ring exchange, eastern NATO partners such as Slovenia, Poland and Greece are supposed to deliver Soviet-era weapons to Ukraine and receive modern replacements from Germany. But as of today there are no reports that the agreements have been fulfilled in the past few months.
© TVNOW / Andreas Friese
Podcast “important today”
Sure, opinionated, on the 12: “today important” is not just a news podcast. We set topics and initiate debates – with attitude and sometimes uncomfortable. Host Michel Abdollahi and his team speak out for this star– and RTL reporters with the most exciting people from politics, society and entertainment. They let all voices have their say, both the quiet and the loud. Anyone who hears “important today” starts the day well informed and can have a well-founded say.
Strack-zimmermann believes that exchanging rings is basically a good idea. And the fact that it hasn’t worked so far is not solely the fault of the federal government: “It’s not malicious that the ring exchange doesn’t work like this. It’s also the communication and the expectations of the eastern partners: what do we get from Germany and how quickly? ” Say, how many Russian tanks is a Leopard 2 worth, for example? There is definitely a need for improvement here, says the FDP politician, but talks are being held.
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