Berlin The opposition and traffic light politicians are increasing the pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on the question of supplying heavy weapons to Ukraine. If Scholz does not move, then he must expect a corresponding application from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag in the next week, tweeted Union parliamentary group leader Johann Wadephul (CDU).
Because armaments exports of heavy weapons are handled restrictively at the same time, the liberal coalition partner sees a diversion above all: “The checkbook diplomacy in combination with export refusals seems to me like an attempt to no longer want to be the bogeyman internationally,” said the spokesman for defense technology and procurement the FDP parliamentary group, Alexander Müller, the Handelsblatt.
In view of the major offensive launched by Russia in western Ukraine, the Ukrainians do not currently need helmets, night vision devices or money, emphasizes Müller. “But if the federal government would finally issue an export permit after seven weeks of application to release the used armored vehicles from Germany, then a lot would be achieved.”
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Decommissioned tanks could be delivered to Ukraine
The armaments group Rheinmetall has offered to repair decommissioned Marder and Leopard 1 tanks and make them available to Ukraine. The Ukrainians have also knocked on the door of the Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG), which can offer used armored recovery vehicles, engineer vehicles, bridge-laying vehicles or armored personnel carriers. However, no decision has yet been made on the export application that has been available since the beginning of March.
In the SPD in particular there are great reservations about the delivery of tanks or artillery. He was “amazed at how quickly one calls for heavy weapons,” said foreign policy expert and former governing mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, on NTV. One must keep an eye on the danger of a possible escalation spiral.
SPD leader Saskia Esken wants to meet this Wednesday with the Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk, who has repeatedly criticized Germany. She said on ZDF that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin obviously wanted to destroy Ukraine and annihilate the Ukrainian people. That is why Germany will continue to supply weapons.
US President Joe Biden had invited Chancellor Scholz and representatives of other European countries as well as NATO and the EU to a video conference on Tuesday to discuss how to proceed. Scholz had always advocated an internationally coordinated approach to the issue of arms deliveries.
The planned release of two billion euros in military aid was apparently also intended to counter criticism from at home and abroad. But the approach quickly called new critics onto the scene. Because the money should come from the supplementary budget. In this extra budget, which will be decided in addition to the normal budget, the federal government wants to bundle all special expenses incurred as a result of the Ukraine war.
The problem: The special budget will not be finally decided by the Bundestag until June at the earliest, maybe not until July. Only then would the funds be released for Ukraine. Until then, a lot of time will pass. Time that Ukraine may not have.
CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen described the procedure as “a transparent trick”. The government is suggesting that Ukraine will be helped “on a large scale”, but that is not the case immediately. “Ukraine needs the weapons now,” said Röttgen.
With an “exceeded budgeted expenditure” the federal government could quickly provide money
In fact, the federal government would have the opportunity to help Ukraine immediately: through a so-called “overspending” in the regular federal budget. With this instrument, the government can release budget funds immediately through the budget committee in the Bundestag.
During the corona crisis, she made constant use of this option. For example, more than two billion euros were made available for the procurement of protective clothing, and a lot of money also quickly flowed for international vaccine aid.
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Representatives of the traffic light coalition also drew attention to this possibility after Röttgen’s criticism. But then the question arises: why does the federal government not use the instrument in the case of Ukraine?
According to a traffic light politician, the federal government did not want to simply transfer money to Ukraine, but rather provide the money for specific armaments. The only question is what can be delivered at all. The already manageable stocks of the Bundeswehr are empty.
The possibility remains that Ukraine buys directly from the German armaments industry. However, when it comes to weapons of war such as tanks or artillery, a prerequisite is a corresponding export license.
More on this: Foreign policy expert Guntram Wolff: “It would be important to deliver heavy weapons” – expert criticizes hesitant federal government