Scholz Partners Push to Change His Mind on Ukraine Missiles

Kamil Kowalcze
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Olaf Scholz’s top coalition partners are pushing the German chancellor to drop his opposition to supplying long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

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As invading Russian forces seek to press home their advantage in troops and materiel, the Greens and Free Democrats have been urging Scholz to send the weapons, which are used for precision strikes against hardened targets like bunkers and have a range of more than 500 kilometers (311 miles).

The chancellor has justified his resistance — broadly backed by his Social Democrats — by arguing that German personnel would have to be stationed in Ukraine to help operate the targeting system, potentially making Germany a direct participant in the war. He is also concerned the Taurus could be deployed against targets inside Russia, including Moscow. Polls suggest a majority of Germans support him.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the leader of the Free Democrats, doesn’t agree with Scholz’s justification and is still hopeful he will change his mind, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

Lindner has cited technical adjustments to reduce the range of the missiles and prevent them from being used against Russian territory, the person said.

Robert Habeck of the Greens, the economy minister and vice chancellor, is also sympathetic to lawmakers who back sending the Taurus and is irritated by Scholz’s unilateral decision, another person with knowledge of his views said. Both people asked not to be identified discussing sensitive information.

Scholz has been under pressure for nearly a year to agree to Ukraine’s request for the missiles. Instead, he has repeatedly highlighted that Germany has been one of the most generous backers of the government in Kyiv, pledging military assistance worth around $30 billion.

Scholz was quizzed again about the Taurus issue on Wednesday during government questions in the lower house of parliament in Berlin and showed no sign of backing down.

“Prudence is not something that can be characterized as weakness,” he told Bundestag lawmakers. “Rather prudence is what the citizens of this country are entitled to.”

Pressed further by a member of the main opposition conservatives, Scholz added: “I do not believe it’s responsible to make this weapon available without the participation of German soldiers in the field.”

“This is about being part of where is targeted, where is shot at and where is hit,” he said. “That should not happen with German soldiers and as chancellor I have the responsibility to prevent a participation by Germany in this war.”

The conservatives have sought to capitalize on the latest example of disunity in the three-party ruling alliance.

They filed a motion to be debated in parliament Thursday entitled “Consistently continue support for Ukraine — approve delivery of the Taurus cruise missile.”

While it appears unlikely that coalition lawmakers will break ranks in the named vote, the debate will ensure that the issue — and the disagreement in the coalition — remain in the spotlight.

The missiles are manufactured by Taurus Systems GmbH, a joint venture between MBDA Deutschland GmbH and Sweden’s Saab Dynamics AB.

--With assistance from Michael Nienaber.

(Updates with Scholz comments starting in eighth paragraph)

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