The Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU), the leading opposition group in Germany, have accused Social Democratic (SPD) Chancellor Olaf Scholz of spreading fear in the debate over the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
"Please stop misintroducing the notion of escalation into the debate in Germany. The only one escalating is Putin," CDU/CSU deputy group leader Johan Vadeful said in the Bundestag on Friday.
"Olaf Scholz is not the chancellor of peace, but the chancellor of fear. In the end, he is a security risk for Germany," emphasized Thomas Erndl from the Bavarian CSU.
The parliament considered the proposal of the liberals (FDP) to deliver these long-range weapons to Ukraine.
The discussion about Taurus, which Ukraine has been seeking since May last year, has been going on for a long time. The missiles have a range of 500 kilometers and Šolc refuses to deliver them.
SPD MP Ralf Stegner said that their parliamentary group supports the chancellor in his decision not to send weapons.
Taurus could reach deep into Russian territory or require the participation of German soldiers to plan targets, which could lead to a widening war, Stegner suggested.
Ukrainian ambassador Oleksiy Makeyev attended the debate.
The head of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Deer, warned against supporting the Russian narrative that the delivery of long-range weapons could trigger a nuclear war.
Ukraine is persistently seeking missiles to attack Russian logistics and military targets far behind the front lines, including those on Russian territory.
The longest-range weapon that Germany has delivered so far is the Mars II rocket launcher with a range of 84 kilometers.
The use of this system and howitzer 2000, whose range is 56 kilometers, against targets on Russian territory was allowed by the German government only in a limited area around Kharkiv.
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