In Germany, the parties of the future ruling coalition have agreed on many correct things regarding Ukraine in their coalition agreement. However, they did not specify how these plans would be implemented.
This opinion was shared in a comment to Ukrinform by Claudia Major, a security expert and Vice President of the German Marshall Fund.
“The section of the coalition agreement concerning Ukraine includes many correct things, such as the need to provide Ukraine with material and political security guarantees. But I couldn’t tell from the text how many of these things are actually going to be implemented. These are good words and right goals, but the document lacks concrete paths and practical consequences,” the expert said.
Regarding the fact that the agreement does not mention specific weapons systems, like the Taurus missiles, in the context of continuing and strengthening military support for Ukraine, Major supported the document’s authors. She emphasized that the focus should not be on specific weapons systems but on defining the goal.
According to her, that goal should be “Ukraine that is able to end the war on its own terms and not be forced into a dictated peace.”
To achieve that end, Ukraine must be provided with sufficient political, financial, economic, and military support. In her view, it is essential to provide Ukraine with missile defense systems and to support the Ukrainian defense industry.
“So we should not focus on a single weapons system, but rather show what else is possible in other areas. And that we are ready to go beyond what we’ve already promised — that’s the key issue,” Major emphasized.
She also noted that in order to have a place at the negotiating table on peace in Ukraine, the Europeans “need to be strong enough to make an alternative proposal and be taken seriously. But currently, they are too weak to offer their own proposals.”
At present, she pointed out, Russia is engaging in direct talks with the United States, bypassing both Ukrainians and Europeans. Meanwhile, the expert is unclear on the main strategy of the new U.S. administration. From the decisions and speeches made so far, she believes it can be concluded that the traditional role of the U.S. as a NATO ally and partner is no longer relevant.
“The United States is clearly behaving like a great power, with great-power thinking,” Major said. Within the U.S. itself, she noted, increasing autocratic traits can be observed. In her opinion, all this encourages Russia to continue the war.
As previously reported, representatives of the three German parties negotiating to form a ruling coalition — CDU, CSU, and SPD — recently agreed on a draft coalition agreement. Each party must approve it. The CSU has already done so. The CDU will announce its decision on April 28. An online vote by members of the Social Democratic Party began on April 15 and will last for two weeks. If approved, the Bundestag will vote on the CDU leader Friedrich Merz as Chancellor on May 6.
Recently, Merz stated that he does not rule out the possibility of delivering Taurus missiles to Ukraine. However, according to media reports, there is no consensus among coalition parties on this issue.
Source: Future German government promises much to Ukraine but lacks implementation plans – German expert
