Joint proposal of the parliamentary groups of his parties governing coalition and her Christian Union (CDU / CSU) for German support for Ukraine with the delivery of heavy weapons is expected to be approved today by Federal Parliament (Bundestag).
The Christian Union, which had initially “threatened” to submit its own proposal, which could provoke a government crisis, eventually withdrew its plan and joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Liberals. (FDP), after previously imposed changes and additions.
According to documents released by the Bundestag last night, the proposal stipulates that the government should “To continue and, where possible, accelerate the delivery of the necessary equipment to Ukraine, while extending the supply of heavy weapons and complex systems (…) without jeopardizing Germany ‘s ability to defend the Alliance.” In addition, the federal government must take care of humanitarian aid to refugeeswhile you should make every effort to the country’s independence from Russian energy.
The parties are also urging the government to take care of it as soon as possible creation of a special fund on the modernization of the German armed forces. In doing so, the CDU / CSU are signaling that they are also approving the necessary constitutional review to allocate € 100 billion to the Bundeswehr.
“It is good that the Union withdrew its demands and chose to support our proposal. “Germany wants to support Ukraine as best it can – and the fact that the Bundestag Democratic Center is unanimous on this issue is an important message.” said the head of the FDP Central Committee Christian Durr.
THE change of attitude Christian Democrats and Christian Socialists, however, is mainly due to “Turn” of Chancellor Olaf Solz in terms of the delivery of heavy weapons to the Ukrainian army. Mr Soltz initially insisted that “It is doing everything possible to prevent a possible escalation that could lead to a third world war.” But in the end he made a turn, due to the pressure of the opposition and mainly of his government partners.
The joint proposal being voted on today shows just how strong the pressure was on the chancellor to reconsider his stance. According to Der Spiegel magazine, when Mr. Soltz announced his decision to the SPD parliamentary group the day before yesterday, some MPs could not hide their excitement.
“Very timid, very hesitant, too quiet – the chancellor’s public image in recent weeks has been disastrous. The SPD deputies appeared more and more annoyed (…). But now the chancellor has found clear words. “It was a speech in which Mr Soltz obviously wanted to allay the fears of his MPs and give them more confidence.” reports the magazine, citing testimonies of participants in the meeting.
“We are responsible and sometimes there is a storm. “But we are a good body.” Mr Solz was quoted as saying by SPD lawmaker and former Berlin mayor Michael Mueller that the speech should have been made public, not at a closed-door meeting of the parliamentary group.
THE Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU leader Markus Zender, Despite finally giving his support to the proposal, he made it clear that he was “less euphoric” than the Greens and the FDP, as he was concerned about the risk of Germany being drawn into the Ukraine war. “Of course we will help. But we must be careful not to find ourselves suddenly at war. “On the other hand, as a free West, we must stop aggression.” told the Nürnberger Nachrichten. Mr Zender, referring to former Chancellor Gerhard Schroedertalked about one “Irrational old man, for whom remuneration is more important than the price of his office” and stressed that this is detrimental to Germany and the SPD should remove him. Instead, he defended former Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Former Foreign Minister and current Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeiersaying that “they tried to keep the peace and keep the talks with Russia alive.”
THE Foreign Minister Analena Berbock For her part, answering questions in Parliament yesterday, she described the decision to hand over heavy weapons to Ukraine as a “right step”, despite the fact that, as she admitted, “the steps taken by Russia in this war are at its discretion. “Vladimir Putin and that is why we can not rule out anything.” He stressed, however, that “the Ukrainians can not be left to fight alone.” The government, the “green” foreign minister added, “has a responsibility on the one hand to make the dangers clear and on the other not to cause panic.”
THE Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has been visiting NATO’s eastern countries for the last time, said yesterday on the Slovakia-Ukraine border that “Germany does not need to hide what it offers economically, humanitarianly and mainly militarily”. In any case, he stressed, he considers it understandable that any delivery of weapons is thoroughly examined before being approved. Mr Steinmeier assured his Slovak counterpart, Susanna Tsaputova, that criticism sometimes coming from Kyiv, and even the fact that he had recently been barred from visiting Ukraine, would not deter Germany. “We will not leave Ukraine alone in these difficult times,” he said repeatedly during a visit to Slovakia. For her part, she assured him that he is always welcome in Bratislava.
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