Politics Scholz defends the relocation of US missiles to Germany
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defends the planned transfer of long-range US weapons to Germany. Scholz said at the traditional summer press conference in Berlin that the decision would serve as a deterrent. It serves to ensure that Germany is not attacked and that no war takes place.
24.07.2024, 15:46
SDA
Scholz said that Russia had massively disregarded arms control agreements of recent decades and had withdrawn from the policy of arms control. Security must also be guaranteed through the necessary deterrence.
On the fringes of the NATO summit, the USA and Germany recently announced that the USA intends to station weapons systems in Germany again from 2026 that will reach as far as Russia. These are to include Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers, which can technically also be equipped with nuclear weapons, as well as SM-6 air defence missiles and newly developed hypersonic weapons.
Scholz had already rejected fears that the planned deployment could lead to an escalation with Russia.
Scholz said that the arms control regime had been painstakingly developed and built up. He recalled a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022, shortly before the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. He had told Putin that they would be happy to talk about arms control - as well as about where which missiles were located. But Putin was not interested in any of that. Putin was determined to wage his long-prepared war.
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich warned of the risk of military escalation. "We must improve our defense capabilities in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but we must not ignore the risks of this deployment," Mützenich told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers. "The missiles have a very short warning time and open up new technological capabilities. The danger of an unintended military escalation is considerable."
