Scholz to Taurus: “I am the chancellor, and that’s why this applies”
Published: Monday, Mar 4th 2024, 12:40
Updated At: Tuesday, Mar 5th 2024, 00:59
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is sticking to his no to the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine despite criticism from within his own coalition. "I am the Chancellor, and that's why this is valid," he said on Monday in a Q&A session at a vocational school center in Sindelfingen, Baden-Württemberg.
He described the domestic political dispute about Taurus as a "strange debate about individual weapons systems". Scholz did not comment on the wiretapped conversation between high-ranking Bundeswehr officers about Taurus, but was not asked about it in the meeting.
The Chancellor reiterated his argument, which he first expressed last week at an editorial conference of the German Press Agency and later added to in a public discussion: "It is not acceptable to deliver a weapon system that reaches very far and then not think about how control over the weapon system can take place. And if you want to have control and it is only possible if German soldiers are involved, that is completely out of the question." He added: "I made that statement very clear. I am the Chancellor, and therefore that applies."
Taurus has a range of 500 kilometers and can therefore also hit targets in Moscow from Ukraine. The Chancellor's rejection of Taurus was also criticized within his own coalition. Scholz's SPD coalition partners - the FDP and the Greens - are in favor of a Taurus delivery, as are the Christian Democrats in the opposition.
©Keystone/SDA
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