Questioning in the Bundestag
“Scholz has not tipped over”: This is how the German press reacts to the Chancellor’s Taurus no
During the questioning in the Bundestag, Chancellor Olaf Scholz positions himself against the Taurus delivery
© Michael Kappeler / DPA
The Chancellor is criticized and celebrated for his decision not to deliver Taurus missiles to Ukraine. The press admires his clear stance – but also wonders whether it is appropriate in the current debate.
No to the Taurus delivery: “Scholz has not tipped over”
“People’s Voice”: “The Taurus is not going east: Olaf Scholz made it clear again in the Bundestag that Ukraine will not receive cruise missiles. The Chancellor is in agreement with the majority of Germans, but not with the opposition Union and loud representatives of the traffic light coalition. NATO also Allies had pressured Scholz to deliver the missiles, not to mention Ukraine. Scholz has not given up. He is showing attitude and determination. This is exactly what he was accused of missing for a long time in Russia’s unspeakable war against Ukraine. Using the Leopard -Tanks, for example, whose export the Chancellor first refused and then approved. For Scholz, the Taurus rockets have long since become harbingers of fate for his chancellorship, which is now more secure. If Scholz had reversed his decision, the signal would be from Moscow via Kiev to Washington been fatal: there is a revolution in Berlin.”
“Weser Kurier”: “The fact that Olaf Scholz rejected the delivery after long, careful consideration and weighing up all the advantages and disadvantages is an expression of prudence and strength. Anyone who – like former minister Jens Spahn – publicly dismisses this as a sign of fear is fine “It’s just about short-sighted political skirmishes from which only the opponents of democracy at home and abroad ultimately benefit.”
“New Osnabrücker Zeitung”: “In the here and now, in which Scholz has to decide, his no is understandable. Despite all the dissatisfaction with his traffic light government and his governing style: his deliberative actions in the Ukraine war are widely accepted and appreciated. It is with a view to the approaching federal election his ‘unique selling point’, his unique selling point when he applies for another chancellorship. Scholz follows the majority so that they follow him. He accepts the risk of making the wrong decision.”
“The decision must be respected”
“The bell”: “But there are reasons for Scholz’s ‘no’. Russian President Vladimir Putin would exploit a delivery for propaganda purposes and possibly finally view Germany as a warring party. It can also be assumed that after a Taurus commitment there would be demands for higher-quality weapon systems: if cruise missiles – Then why not carrier aircraft for this? But where should that end? And: If it is true that Scholz persuaded China’s head of state Xi Jinping months ago to publicly advise Putin against using nuclear weapons – then it would be strange if the Chancellor was on the other hand The fact that Ukraine has to be able to defend itself against the Russian invaders is fundamentally beyond question. He has made his decision – that must be respected.”
Tragedy between government and opposition
“Rhein-Zeitung”: “What no longer exists in Germany as a result of the Taurus debate is a so-called ‘common sense’ between the government and the opposition. What the Americans call a ‘rally around the president’, i.e. a ‘gathering’ around the head of government, is unfortunately history in Germany. CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen and the Chancellor are having a personal skirmish, accusing each other of spreading half-truths. It’s more of a tragedy, here the AfD just has to sit back. Scholz has not been able to do so “To involve the Union in its decisions or simply to inform them in advance. The Union, in turn, uses the sensitive topic as a method to personally introduce the Chancellor. But the question of war and peace is not suitable for this.”
“Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung”: “The Chancellor maintains that Germany would actually become a party to the war if Taurus were to be delivered. The intercepted video conversation of the four Bundeswehr officers also suggests this conclusion. The only alternative to direct Bundeswehr deployment that they could think of was to send coordinates by messenger overland to Ukraine if necessary The comment: ‘How would the press react if that came out’? In other words: the generals had a similar feeling to that of the Chancellor. It is (…) the Chancellor who has the greatest support for Ukraine in Europe organized. Unlike Macron, who is perhaps braver, but certainly not more sensible, than Scholz. In the current question time, the Union practiced getting the cool Hanseatic to the point where he lost his composure. Point for them. But in “The issue is not about saving face, not about grand gestures, but about how Europe gets out of this war in Ukraine in one piece. That’s what counts.”