Scholz Keeps His ‘No’ Taurus Delivery to Ukraine

The war party’s lobbying for a Bundestag declaration in favor of delivering Germany’s Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine has intensified after Biden’s apparent approval for deep strikes into Russia. The Free Democrats (FDP) intend to present a Bundestag motion on the issue. Christian Democrats, Free Democrats, and the Greens are expected to vote for the Taurus; the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Linke, and Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) parties will vote against. As the Social Democrats are divided on weapons deliveries, a large minority being against, the “no” on the Taurus issue that Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated yesterday is important, and also important given that even a majority vote of the Bundestag (404 votes of CDU-CSU, Greens, FDP; absolute majority is 367) would not force him to change mind.