Der Spiegel, Europe’s largest magazine, says that NATO’s eastern border states are fed up with the meager support for Ukraine.
Russia’s border neighbors are tired of the German government’s and other allies’ sloppy attitude regarding support for Ukraine. Saksalaislehti tells about it Der Spiegel.
Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz has repeatedly spoken restrainedly about supporting Ukraine. For example, the country has refused to send long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
The background is Germany’s fear of Russian countermeasures if Germany supplies Ukraine with weapons that reach too far into Russian soil.
However, the Chancellor’s speeches are in stark contrast to the reality that currently prevails on the Ukrainian front. Russia launched a large-scale ground offensive in the Kharkiv region earlier in May.
Ukraine has so far managed to avoid a bigger disaster, because the weapons supplied by the West and especially the US recently have prevented Russia from achieving a significant breakthrough.
However, there is no certainty about the continuity of the support in the long term.
According to Der Spiegel, there are clear differences in the views of Ukraine’s allies.
Some countries fear that the war against Russia will escalate if Germany and the United States get too involved in the fighting in Ukraine.
Others, on the other hand, fear that supporting Ukraine too little would bring the war closer and closer to NATO’s eastern border, and thereby lead to an escalation of the war.
According to information from the German newspaper, the politicians of the Baltic countries warned German representatives at the security meeting held in Tallinn last week about where the country’s policy will lead.
According to Der Spiegel, the Baltic countries and Poland have announced their intention to immediately send their own troops to Ukraine if Russia achieves a breakthrough because Ukraine has not been supported sufficiently. Carrying out the threat would make NATO a direct party to the war.
It remains to be seen whether the countries’ threat will make Germany change its position on, for example, the delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
According to Spiegel, there is also support within the German government for increasing support. Among other things, the Vice-Chancellor by Robert HabeckMinister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Bearbock’sMinister of Economy by Christian Lindner and the Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius is said to be in favor of increasing arms deliveries to Ukraine on the eve of what appears to be decisive fighting.
According to the newspaper, Scholz’s cautious line is opposed within the government, especially in the German Greens and the center-right FDP party.