Astonishment at statements

Scholz accuses allies of active warfare

According to Scholz, French and British troops are already actively involved in combat operations in Ukraine.

(Bild: AFP)

Are British and French troops actively involved in the operation of long-range missiles in Ukraine? At least that's what German Chancellor Olaf Scholz casually claimed during an event in Berlin. His statements leave allies and opposition members alike perplexed.

Olaf Scholz has a new favorite phrase: "Germany will not become a party to the war!" Neither directly nor indirectly. It is enough that British and French troops in Ukraine are actively involved in bringing "Storm Shadow" cruise missiles to the target.

Olaf Scholz

(Bild: AFP)

Has Scholz blown the whistle on allies?
Scholz mentioned this in passing at an event in Berlin on Monday when a moderator asked him about his no to Taurus deliveries. "What the British and French are doing in terms of target control and accompanying target control cannot be done in Germany," said the Social Democrat, putting his allies in acute need of an explanation.

Taurus

• According to the manufacturer, the rocket-shaped Taurus KEPD-350 has a range of up to 500 kilometers, meaning that pilots do not have to enter enemy airspace to fire it.
• The missiles, which are around five meters long and weigh almost 1400 kilograms, are equipped with their own engine and four independent navigation systems.
• In autonomous low-level flight, they should be difficult to hit by enemy air defenses at an altitude of less than 50 meters.

The statement is seen as a threat to military and diplomatic personnel on the ground. Tobias Ellwood, the former chairman of the House of Commons Defense Committee, told the British newspaper "The Telegraph": "This is a blatant misuse of intelligence to deflect attention from Germany's reluctance to arm Ukraine with its own long-range missile system."

London contradicts Scholz
He assumes that Scholz's speculation is "undoubtedly being used by Russia to climb a new rung on the escalation ladder". The British government has now officially denied that the UK is directly involved in the deployment of long-range cruise missiles against Russian positions in Ukraine.

The use of the supplied weapons systems and the "process of target selection" are a matter for the Ukrainian armed forces, said a spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defense. Scholz, on the other hand, suggested on Monday that the cruise missiles could not be operated by the Ukrainians alone. He said: "Anyone who has dealt with this system knows this, which is why I am always surprised that the question is asked." London rejects this.

On Tuesday, the British government announced that it had stationed a "small number" of soldiers in Ukraine. Some of them are part of medical training teams, for example. 

Berlin and Paris show each other up
According to reports, Scholz's comments also caused great astonishment in Paris. Franco-German relations have suffered badly since the start of the war. Both sides accuse each other of doing too little for Ukraine. Above all, Scholz strongly rejected Macron's proposal to send NATO ground troops to Ukraine.

"NATO is not - and will not be - a party to the war," the SPD man said in a video message on Wednesday evening. He did not repeat his accusations from Monday.

The Scholz statement on Macron's initiative for review:

Macron defended his move by saying that the unthinkable has been repeatedly mad in the recent past. At the special Ukraine summit in Paris on Monday, he smugly called out to Scholz: "I remind you that two years ago, many around this table said: 'We will send sleeping bags and helmets'." At this point, Scholz's explosive statements had already made the rounds. 

Scholz is showing that he does not care about the interests of our allies and is widening the rifts among Europeans.

Norbert Röttgen (CDU)

Bild: AFP

CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen accuses the German Chancellor of having lost control of his own arguments. He stated on Platform X: "Scholz is showing that he does not care about the interests of our allies and is exacerbating the rifts among Europeans." He described his comments as "irresponsible".

Scholz does not deliver Taurus - against all odds
Ukraine has been asking Berlin for Taurus cruise missiles for months. It wants to use these massive and long-range missiles to hit Russian supply lines far behind the front line, among other things. The Chancellery is concerned that the war in Ukraine could escalate in this way with German involvement. The Green Party and FDP, partners in the traffic light system, are in favor of Taurus deliveries to Ukraine.