As of: 07/18/2022 5:22 p.m
The chair of the Defense Committee, Strack-Zimmermann, complained in a letter about a lack of engagement in Ukraine and suggested a conference. The reaction from the Chancellery is unusually brusque. What happened?
It’s just not enough – that was the signal that the chairman of the Defense Committee tried to send out. In a passionate letter to the chancellor, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann called for more to be done “to help Ukraine win this war.”
Germany itself sees it as a duty to set a good example for its European partners: “It can’t be always waiting to see if the others do something first,” said the FDP politician in an interview with the ARD Capital Studio again after. “Our concern is simply that people will sit back and relax.”
In order to find out what the Bundeswehr, industry and politics could still achieve in the coming weeks, Strack-Zimmermann had suggested, among other things, that a “national Ukraine conference” be convened.
“We will not respond to the letter now”
But the refusal from the Chancellery is clear: “We will not react to the letter now,” said deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann when asked. She made it clear that the fire letter will remain unanswered. And the chair of the defense committee has little hope that the chancellor will respond to her demands. When it comes to Ukraine, there is constant exchange, both in terms of parliament and among the ministries. “We do not have to comment on this requirement any further,” Scholz spokeswoman Hoffmann clarified.
Strack-Zimmermann’s reaction was not long in coming: “I do not hope that the Federal Chancellery reacted or will react in this way to the months-long requests from Ukraine,” tweeted the FDP politician – who deals with the Chancellor’s party SPD is at least in a coalition government.
Annoyed at the style
Now it is not entirely clear whether Scholz might have been annoyed by the way the chairman of the Defense Committee had not addressed him more discreetly, but by letter. But the message of the rather brusque rejection should be: The chancellor is not prepared to give in to attempts to publicly put pressure on him.
The chairman of the Europe Committee and Green politician Anton Hofreiter also had this in the joint morning magazine ARD and ZDF by calling for faster arms deliveries to Ukraine: “We only have a chance of peace if the sanctions are so tough and Ukraine’s defense capability is so high that it’s more worthwhile for the Russian regime to to end the war than to continue it.”
“Political decisions are made in the federal government”
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht also reacted cautiously to the formulated proposal: “We support Ukraine in a constant exchange,” the SPD politician explained, explaining that she was being informed by the military leadership about what the Bundeswehr could still do. Incidentally: “Political decisions are made in the federal government.”
In any case, it cannot be said at the moment that there is coalition harmony on the ongoing issue of arms deliveries to Ukraine.