Germany sends heavy weapons to Ukraine: Bundestag approves proposal

The green light is expected today for the Federal Parliament of Germany in the joint proposal of the parliamentary groups of the ruling coalition parties and the Christian Union (CDU / CSU) for Ukraine’s support with the delivery of heavy weapons.

The Christian Union, which had initially “threatened” to submit its own proposal, which could provoke a government crisis, eventually withdrew its plan and joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Liberals. (FDP), having previously imposed changes and additions.

According to documents released by the Bundestag last night and a response from the Athens News Agency, the proposal stipulates that the government should “continue and, where possible, accelerate the delivery of the necessary equipment to Ukraine, while expanding the surrender of heavy weapons and sophisticated systems (…) without jeopardizing Germany’s ability to defend the Alliance “. In addition, the federal government must provide humanitarian assistance to the refugees, and must make every effort to free the country from Russian energy.

The parties are also urging the government to take care of as soon as possible the creation of a special fund for the modernization of the German armed forces. In doing so, the CDU / CSU are signaling that they are also approving the necessary constitutional review to allocate € 100 billion to the Bundeswehr.

“It is good that the Union withdrew its demands and chose to support our proposal. “Germany wants to support Ukraine as best it can – and the important thing is that the Bundestag Democratic Center is unanimous on this issue,” said Christian Dour, head of the FDP Central Committee.

The change of attitude and the “turn” of Soltz

The change in the attitude of Christian Democrats and Christian Socialists, however, is mainly due to the “turn” of Chancellor Olaf Solz in terms of the delivery of heavy weapons to the Ukrainian army. Mr Soltz initially insisted he was “doing everything possible to prevent a possible escalation that could lead to a third world war”. But in the end he made a turn, due to the pressure of the opposition and mainly of his government partners.

The joint proposal being voted on today shows just how strong the pressure was on the chancellor to reconsider his stance. According to Der Spiegel magazine, when Mr. Soltz announced his decision to the SPD parliamentary group the day before yesterday, some MPs could not hide their excitement.

“Very timid, very hesitant, too quiet – the chancellor’s public image in recent weeks has been disastrous. SPD MPs appeared more and more annoyed (…). But now the chancellor has found clear words. “It was a speech in which Mr Soltz apparently wanted to allay the fears of his MPs and give them more confidence,” the magazine said, citing testimonies from participants in the meeting. “We are responsible and sometimes there is a storm. “But we are a good idiot,” Mr Soltz was quoted as saying, while SPD MP and former Berlin mayor Michael Mueller told him that the speech should have been made public, not at a closed-door meeting of the parliamentary group.

Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU leader Markus Zender, despite finally giving his support to the proposal, said he was “less euphoric” than the Greens and the FDP, as Germany was concerned about the risk. to be drawn into the war in Ukraine. “Of course we will help. But we must be careful not to find ourselves suddenly at war. “On the other hand, as a free West, we must stop aggression,” he told the Nürnberger Nachrichten. Mr Zender, referring to former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, described him as an “irrational old man, for whom remuneration is more important than the value of his office” and stressed that this was detrimental to Germany and that the SPD should removes him. Instead, he defended former Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Foreign Minister and current Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, saying “they tried to keep the peace and keep the talks with Russia alive.”

For her part, Foreign Minister Alena Berbok, in response to questions in Parliament yesterday, described the decision to hand over heavy weapons to Ukraine as a “right step”, despite the fact that, as she admitted, “Russia is taking steps in this regard. “War is at the discretion of Vladimir Putin and that is why we can not rule anything out.” He stressed, however, that “the Ukrainians can not be left to fight alone.” The government, the “green” foreign minister added, “has a responsibility on the one hand to make the dangers clear and on the other not to cause panic.”

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has been visiting NATO’s eastern countries recently, said yesterday on the Slovakia-Ukraine border that “Germany does not need to hide what it offers economically, humanitarianly and mainly militarily.” . In any case, he stressed, he considers it understandable that any delivery of weapons is thoroughly examined before being approved. Mr Steinmeier assured his Slovak counterpart, Susanna Tsaputova, that criticism sometimes coming from Kyiv, and even the fact that he had recently been barred from visiting Ukraine, would not deter Germany. “We will not leave Ukraine alone in these difficult times,” he said repeatedly during a visit to Slovakia. For her part, she assured him that he is always welcome in Bratislava.

Poland wants EU funds for Ukrainian refugees

In the meantime, the Poland calls for additional funding from the European Union to cover the cost of hosting millions of Ukrainian refugees after the outbreak of war in February.

In a statement published today in the German tabloid Bild, Polish Prime Minister Matthew Morawiecki (PiS) said that Poland was providing medical care to wounded Ukrainian soldiers and had opened its doors to 2.5 million refugees.

Warsaw needs funds to fund the project, but to date the EU has not given “a single cent” for refugee care, he said.

Poland demands fair treatment, Mr Morawiecki argued. “Turkey was backed by billions of euros when the previous refugee crisis erupted and now the Eastern European country needs and deserves European help,” he argued.

In the same interview, the conservative Polish prime minister expressed outrage at the behavior of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (SPD). The center-left former chancellor has become the target of growing criticism inside and outside his country since the outbreak of war in Ukraine for failing to relinquish his positions in Russian state-owned energy companies.

Asked if he would shake his hand, Mr Morawiecki replied “no, by no means”. He also stressed on the issue of Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, that Warsaw had repeatedly warned Berlin against building pipelines but met with deaf ears. The Polish government has never had any illusions about the Kremlin’s policies, he argued, something that the German are only now realizing. However, “better late than never”, added the head of the Polish government.

Canada condemns resolution calling on Russia to “genocide” Ukrainians

Members of the Canadian Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning Russia’s “genocide of the Ukrainian people” and citing “clear and abundant evidence” that “war crimes and crimes against humanity” were committed “systematically” by “The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin.”

“The House of Commons has passed a resolution on acts of genocide against the Ukrainian people,” the lower house of parliament said in a statement on Twitter.

The rapporteur was Heather Macpherson of the New Democratic Party (NDP, center-left).

It refers to “crimes”, including torture, “mass atrocities on Ukrainian soil” and “forced transfer of children from Ukraine to Russian territory” or even “cases of large-scale physical violence, psychological violence and rape”.

Ratifying the resolution, the House of Commons “recognizes that the Russian Federation is committing genocide against the Ukrainian people.”

The text was adopted about ten days after a similar resolution was passed by the Ukrainian parliament.

In mid-April, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trindade spoke for the first time about “genocide” in Ukraine, a day after US President Joe Biden. The Kremlin categorically rejected this term and claim as “unacceptable”.

“We are seeing (…) attacks on civilians, the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, actions that are completely ‘unacceptable,'” he said.

Earlier in the day, Mr Trinto said his government was looking for ways to “further punish” by seizing goods and sanctions.

The government wants Canada to become the first G7 member to liquidate Russian funds to fund aid to Ukraine.

Ottawa also announced new sanctions against 203 people, according to it, “accomplices” in the attempt to annex Donbas.