Why Germany’s Taurus is Europe’s most-wanted long-range missile
Same as in the United Kingdom, Germany is on doorsteps of election. In Germany the SPD had gone into the election campaign with the no to the delivery of the cruise missile to Kiev. Friedrich Merz no longer wants to deny the Ukrainians the weapon - and thus gets the Social Democrats into trouble.
Anyone who has anything to do with Boris Pistorius these days encounters a man in two roles. The SPD politician is still acting Defence Minister of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz. With a probability bordering on certainty, however, he will soon serve as defence minister in the black-red coalition under Friedrich Merz (CDU). With his announcement that he wants to supply Ukraine, which has been invaded by Russia, the Taurus cruise missile, which Scholz refused, in coordination with partners, Merz has therefore put Pistorius in a delicate position.
Make no mistake, there are some good arguments for the delivery of Taurus, but there are also "huge numbers of arguments, a very very good argument against it". Only part of it can be discussed publicly. If Merz wants to coordinate with the European partners, one must also know that they do not have such a system.
The SPD's election program stated that Germany and NATO should not become a party to the war themselves however looking the numbers it is on the one hand – a matter of securing the majority of the approximately 358,000 voting SPD members for the coalition agreement with the CDU/CSU.
Especially in East Germany, the Taurus question is highly controversial.
And on the other hand, the SPD's election program for the Bundestag election stated that Germany and NATO should not become a party to the war themselves: "That is why we stand by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's decision not to supply the Taurus cruise missile from the Bundeswehr's stocks."
Have I come across in all my life that a single weapon system to appear so explicitly in the election program and could play major role? No way, it is very unusual and strange!
In the SPD parliamentary group, only very few had openly spoken out in favour of a delivery, most clearly the foreign policy expert Michael Roth, who has now left the Bundestag, and the defence and budget politician Andreas Schwarz. So, the black-red coalition-to-be, is asked to do finally what other partners have been doing for a long time.
The Taurus is not a miracle weapon, "but could saves Ukrainian lives". Schwarz, on the other hand, did not want to comment when asked. Am I surprised? Not at all. Taurus can have more deeper consequences not just for Germany but also for entire EU not to mention NATO.
Internally in SPD, there are efforts not to further fuel the debate so as not to make it even more difficult to campaign for the coalition after the NO of leading Jusos to the coalition agreement and different interpretations by the Union and SPD on the compromises on the minimum wage and relief for lower and middle incomes. Many SPD members are calling for more approaches to diplomatic solutions, even if Vladimir Putin has not yet shown any willingness to do so.
The question could become a test of endurance for the new coalition. Before Merz's latest statement, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil had stressed that all decisions would be made jointly "when it comes to strengthening Ukraine". In the traffic light coalition, Scholz had claimed the last word on arms deliveries. He pushed through the no to the delivery of Taurus against the FDP and the Greens.
Discussions about a blow to the bridge to Crimea.
Although the cruise missile is not seen as a "game changer" that would fundamentally change Ukraine's situation, it is seen as a means of destroying Russian supply routes. It had been discussed to use Taurus to destroy the Kerch Bridge to the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula in order to cut off supplies for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. Merz also referred to this in the ARD program "Caren Miosga".
According to experts, this goal has currently lost importance. However, the Taurus, with its range of about 500 kilometres, would be of great value to hit airports and places from which Russian bombers or drones launch attacks on Ukraine.
Do Germans need a permission from the United Kingdom government? Not at all! Even less, we have our foreign secretary David Lummey MP who lost the plot on several issues completely, this would be just one more and I wonder why there is no cabinet reshuffle made by our PM Keir Starmer.
I don’t believe that the military capabilities of the Taurus are (still) needed. A ceasefire has to be secured and achieved with negotiations where neither site wants to accept the other.
