The Leader of the Opposition and a candidate for Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, expressed his readiness to support the provision of long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
“If the bombing does not stop, the first step should be to remove the range restrictions, and the second is the delivery of the Taurus. Then Putin himself will decide how far he wants to go in this war,” he said.
Merz also criticized the current German government under Olaf Scholz’ leadership, noting that it lacks a strategic vision in its Ukrainian policy. He stressed that the issue of missile supply should be resolved at the pan-European level and emphasized the need for Europe to become more independent from the US by increasing defense spending to 3% of GDP.
Merz warns that Russia is actively building up its military capabilities and may threaten NATO territories in five to eight years. German intelligence agrees that Moscow poses a direct military threat and will be able to attack NATO by 2030.