In Germany, politicians are in favour of helping Ukraine with airspace protection, but Olaf Scholz’s party remains opposed because it would lead to Germany’s entry into the conflict.
Earlier, some politicians from the Greens, FDP and CDU supported the idea that Western air defence systems could be used from NATO countries to protect the airspace over Ukraine’s border regions to relieve the burden on Ukrainian air defences, while the SPD, led by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, is dubiously opposed to such an idea.
The group’s leader, Rolf Mützenich, warned in Tagesspiegel that an attempt to protect Ukraine’s airspace through NATO deployment would mean a departure from the principle that Germany does not want to actively intervene in the conflict. He called such proposals irresponsible and extremely dangerous. A Bundeswehr defence of Ukraine’s airspace would immediately make Berlin a belligerent and require a mandate from the Bundestag.
The deputies Markus Faber (FDP), Anton Hofreiter (Greens) and Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU) in the FAZ do not rule out in the future that NATO could intercept Russian shells from Poland or Romania and thus relieve the burden on Ukrainian air defences. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, as chair of the defence committee, expressed caution about the initiative, but did not rule out such an approach, saying that this questioning should be resolved together in NATO.
In early May, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron stressed during a visit to Kiyv that Ukraine would decide how to use the weapons supplied by the United Kingdom. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov immediately condemned Cameron’s statement.
Nico Lange, a military expert, previously told CDF that Ukraine was initially only allowed to use Western weapons to defend the front and to reclaim occupied Ukrainian territories. As a result, Ukraine had to strike targets in Russia with its own weapons – Western-supplied systems were taboo. But Lange observes that if Ukraine is also able to attack Russian positions with US ATACMS missiles or HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, it could transform Russia’s military approach.
