German Politicians Press Scholz to Release Taurus Missiles as Public Majority Says No

Germany’s opposition parties have initiated a debate on the need to provide heavy weapons to Ukraine while 61 percent of Germans, with Chancellor Scholz’s agreement, oppose the supply of Taurus KEPD-350 long-range missiles to Kyiv.

The CDU/CSU parliamentary group has tabled a motion to be debated and voted on in Germany’s Bundestag on Thursday, March 14, 2024, labelled: “Consistent continuous support for Ukraine – a decision on the delivery of the Taurus cruise missile.”

A similar resolution presented to the Bundestag on Jan. 17 calling for the supply of the long- missiles to Ukraine was not supported and was defeated with only 178 out of 666 members voting in favor.

The Taurus KEPD-350 is an air-launched cruise missile (ALCM), manufactured by a partnership between MBDA Deutschland GmbH and Sweden’s Saab Bofors Dynamics that has been in service with Germany since 2006.

The missile incorporates stealth technology and has an official range in excess of 500 kilometers (300 miles) at speeds just below Mach 1. It has a dual stage 480-kilogram (1,100 lb) “bunker busting” two stage warhead incorporating an initial penetrating charge to clear the way for the main warhead.

This new move comes with the background of the latest survey by Deutschlandtrend that shows, while many Germans support the need to increase defense spending in the light of Russian aggression, a large majority, 61 percent, reject the idea of supplying the Taurus long-range missile to Ukraine – an increase of 9 percentage points over the previous month.

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Answering questions in parliament on Wednesday, Scholz again said that he would not consider supplying weapons with a 500-kilometer range without supervision which would inevitably involve the direct participation of German military personnel:

“Prudence should not be considered a weakness. And for me, the supply of such long-range weapons, the reasonable use of which would be associated with the participation of German soldiers, even those located outside Ukraine, is excluded. This is a line that I, as Chancellor, do not want to cross... I consider it necessary to strictly observe the non-participation of German military personnel when supplying weapons.”

However, the leaders of the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the two parties that along with Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) make up the ruling coalition, oppose his position according to a report by Bloomberg.

Both Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck are in favor of sending the missiles to Ukraine and say they hope the Chancellor will change his position. A source told the news agency that Habeck was particularly annoyed by Scholz’s unilateral stance despite the position held by his ministers.

Foreign Minister Annalena Bärbock, a member of the Greens has publicly stated that she wants the government to “carefully consider” the issue of Taurus delivery, saying “The facts are absolutely clear… Kyiv must be given all necessary resources to protect its territory and its population.”

Of the major political parties, only the far-right Alternative for Germany, which actively worked with the Kremlin before the war in Ukraine, is opposed to expanding cooperation, but earlier attempts to curtail support such as its proposal to ban the training of Ukrainian military personnel on German soil was defeated.

The publication of the intercepted discussions between Luftwaffe generals concerning the technical, logistical and political requirements if Taurus was supplied to Kyiv has put the issue of the extent of any German military participation in their use on the public agenda.

At a Bundestag hearing about the tapped call on Wednesday, Jens Lehmann from the CDU/CSU group said that Taurus has been supplied to several countries, including Spain and South Korea, where there are no Bundeswehr soldiers involved in any aspect of their use and that Ukraine should be no less capable of operating the system themselves.

The FDP chairperson of the parliamentary defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said that the publication of the intercepted calls by Moscow showed that they were trying to force the Minister of Defense to get rid of some of his best generals and pressure the Chancellor to maintain his decision not to supply the missiles to Ukraine.

Strack-Zimmermann underlined her view that Russia was very afraid of Ukraine receiving Taurus missiles and said it would make them “really s**t their pants.”