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Ukraine has been requesting the delivery of German Taurus cruise missiles for months. These have a range of up to 500 kilometers and their destructive power is enormous: the Kerch Bridge to the Crimean Peninsula would be a predestined target for these missiles.
But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65) is against him. Behind the scenes, he made it clear to the Ukrainian representatives that no delivery was expected in the near future. During a secret meeting with part of the cabinet, he explained to MPs the reasons for his hesitation, as ‘Bild’ reports.
Programming Taurus is difficult
According to the portal, only key ministers participated in the meeting. This includes Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (63), Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (42), Economy Minister Robert Habeck (54) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (44).
According to “Bild”, Scholz explains to those present: Programming the target of the cruise missile is complicated. If a mistake is made and the missile hits another target in Russia, it could lead to a violent escalation of the war.
One solution would be to send German soldiers to Ukraine to check the programming and prevent devastating mistakes. But that is unrealistic because of the constitution in Germany. This stipulates that soldiers can only be sent on missions with a mandate from the Bundestag – and the AfD and some left-wing members are said to oppose this.
Strong criticism of Scholz
Moreover, according to “Bild”: If parliamentarians were to go to the Federal Constitutional Court against the operation, sensitive military information would be revealed during a hearing. Scholz obviously wants to prevent all this. He also believes that training Ukrainian soldiers in Germany to program the Taurus is too risky.
Despite these statements, Scholz received strong criticism from all parties. “The federal government’s communication about Taurus is dishonest,” CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen (58) writes about X. The discussion about technical issues is an excuse. “Scholz never intended to achieve results, precisely because Stier would be very effective for Ukraine.” This action is “irresponsible and short-sighted”. (neo)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
