In the meantime, Germany must not “slip back to a phase of wishful thinking” when it comes to arms deliveries to Ukraine, warns the former Federal President.
Former Federal President Joachim Gauck sees the turning point announced by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) after Russia’s attack on Ukraine as fundamental.
Gauck told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”: “Chancellor Scholz may be acting slowly, but he is acting.” If Germany, for example, strengthens the NATO forces in Lithuania under German leadership, “then it is not just a symbol, but very concretely the strengthening of defense readiness”. The delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine was “a clear signal that the change is meant seriously and that we are not falling back into a phase of wishful thinking,” Gauck judged.
A few days ago, the first heavy weapons from Germany arrived in the Ukraine in the form of seven self-propelled howitzers. So far, however, NATO countries have not supplied certain weapon systems, such as combat aircraft and battle tanks. When asked by the editorial network Germany (RND) about the delivery of armored personnel carriers and battle tanks, Greens boss Omid Nouripour said: “The situation is constantly changing. That’s why the attitude towards individual weapon systems can change.” But that will be decided “only together with international allies”.
In the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”, Gauck described it as “appropriate for Germany to acknowledge its leadership role in Europe, because this Germany is not about dominance, but about cooperation and partnership”. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil recently emphasized in a keynote speech that Germany must claim to be a “leading power” in international politics.
During his time as Federal President, Gauck had repeatedly called for Germany to play a more decisive role on the international stage. “As a good partner, the Federal Republic should get involved earlier, more decisively and more substantially,” he said at the Munich Security Conference in 2014.
