German Chancellor Olaf Scholz affirmed that Germany would not prevent Ukrainian strikes on Russian military targets, stating that Ukraine “has the right to defend itself.”
During a Franco-German defense and security council in Meseberg on Tuesday, both German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron demonstrated their collective support for Ukraine.
While Chancellor Scholz had previously maintained a firm stance against Ukraine using Western weaponry to target Russian locations, he moved towards Macron’s position on the third and final day of the French president’s landmark state visit to Germany.
Both leaders set aside their differences and reached a compromise on the contentious issue of EU defense.
Moreover, the German chancellor displayed increased openness regarding military assistance to Ukraine, suggesting that Kyiv should be permitted to target military installations within Russia but not other objectives—a significant shift for Berlin given Scholz’s prior reluctance to allow Ukraine to strike across the border, fearing it could escalate into a direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia.
“Under international law, Ukraine has every right to do so,” Scholz emphasized. “It must be clearly stated that if Ukraine is attacked, it has the right to defend itself.”
“I find it odd when some argue against Ukraine’s ability to defend itself and take appropriate measures,” he added.
Nonetheless, Germany remains steadfast in its refusal to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles (exceeding 500 km), in contrast to Paris and Washington DC.
Russian President Vladimir Putin cautioned of “serious consequences” if Western nations permitted Ukraine to utilize their weapons against targets in Russia.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron sought reconciliation with Berlin after the latter initiated a European anti-missile shield project, excluding Paris.
Various diverging opinions, including economic ties with China and the US, have strained the Franco-German relationship.
While Macron advocates for greater European autonomy in defense and aims to safeguard the economy from ‘unfair’ competition from China and America, Scholz underscores the importance of transatlantic relations and trade ties with China.
The primary objective of the historic state visit was to demonstrate a united front between France and Germany, as both leaders anticipate electoral losses to far-right parties less than two weeks before the European elections.
“In France, the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) leads the polls at 33%, while Macron’s party, the Renaissance, stands at 15.5%. Macron’s visit to Germany is also a way of expressing his pro-European stance,” stated Marie Krpata, a researcher at the Committee for Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) in Paris.
According to the latest election trends from PolitPro in Germany, the Christian Democratic and Conservative Union (CDU/CSU) leads with just over 30%. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surpassed Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), with the former at 15.8% and the latter at 14.3%.
