German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has again ruled out sending long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, whereas his political rival Friedrich Merz has expressed greater openness to delivering such missiles.
Both candidates expressed their stance on supporting Ukraine during a 90-minute televised debate ahead of national elections to be held in a fortnight.
Merz, whose CDU/CSU alliance is leading in the polls against Scholz’s SPD, said he has “always been very clear” about his position on sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
I have always said, the delivery of cruise missiles must be decided in the European Union. The United States delivers, France delivers, Britain delivers; we should also have delivered.
Last October, Merz said he would approve the delivery of missiles to Kyiv if Russian strikes on Ukraine continued unabated.
Then the first step is this: lift the range restriction [on current Ukraine missile launchings]. And the second step is that we deliver the Taurus.
Meanwhile, Scholz continued to insist on refusing to supply long-range missiles because of concerns that such a move would drag Germany into the war in Ukraine.
He also accused Merz of seeking support from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. However, Merz denied his criticism.
I want to make it clear here once again that we will not do that. There are no similarities between the AfD and the [CDU/CSU].
Initial opinion polls rated the performances of the two politicians as roughly equal. Scholz and Merz are due to meet again in a face-to-face debate on 19 February. They will also compete in a four-way debate on 16 February with Alice Weidel from the AfD and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from the Greens.
