Is the demand for the delivery of German battle tanks to Ukraine comparable to the “V2 syndrome of the Germans” in the Nazi era? Chancellor Schmidt draws this comparison – and reaps outraged contradiction.
What does Chancellor Olaf Scholz really think about military aid to Ukraine? This is extremely difficult for the public to assess, since the SPD politician, despite several interviews on the subject, knows very well how to remain in the dark. Scholz often hides with the nebulous reference to agreements with international partners.
All the more exciting and enlightening was a performance by Wolfgang Schmidt a few days ago. The chancellery minister, who has been the closest confidante of the current chancellor for many years, gave a deep insight into this. And he gets a lot of headwind for it.
On the one hand, Schmidt drew a daring Nazi comparison at the “Progressive Governance Summit”. At a discussion event held in English in Berlin, the SPD politician defended the government’s position that Ukraine would not be supplied with battle tanks to defend itself against Russia. Among other things, he compared the calls for the German Leopard-2 with hopes that Nazi Germany placed in the V2 rocket, which propaganda described as a “miracle weapon”.
“Sometimes I’m tempted to call it the V2 syndrome of the Germans,” said Schmidt – that there is a miracle weapon that, like magic, ensures that things get done. “And now the Leopard 2 (…) is that miracle weapon that will end the war. And he won’t.” In Nazi parlance, V2 stands for Vergeltungswaffe 2 and was widely used by Nazi Germany against civilian targets.
The opposition is outraged, and Schmidt’s statements are also met with astonishment from traffic light ranks. “What’s actually going on in this man’s head, making such a comparison, the leopard is the V2 syndrome of the Germans,” said CDU chairman Friedrich Merz on Saturday at a party event in Villingen-Schwenningen. Such statements fueled doubts in the world about the clarity and reliability of German politics. Merz called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to make it clear that the federal government was not thinking of passing on such “nonsense”.
Other Union politicians are attacking Schmidt massively: “These are very frightening statements that hopefully cannot be the official position of the Federal Government of the Federal Republic of Germany because they show frightening ignorance,” said the CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter to the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” ( Saturday). Union faction vice Johann Wadephul (CDU) spoke of a “disturbing appearance” by the head of the chancellery.
The FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told the German Press Agency: “I offer Wolfgang Schmidt a collegial introduction to a little weapons knowledge. Then he would also quickly realize that not only is the comparison with Nazi weapons completely out of place, it is also simply wrong.”
Schmidt had also warned that if a battle tank bearing the German Iron Cross was captured, it would be “perfect propaganda material” for Russia to say it was under NATO attack.
CDU man Kiesewetter replied: “All combat vehicles and weapon systems that are supplied do not bear the national insignia of the supplying countries, but rather the national insignia of Ukraine. The Iron Cross is reserved for Bundeswehr vehicles in mandated operations and domestically.” Wadephul also told the “Tagesspiegel” that the Gepard anti-aircraft tanks already delivered by Germany could also be captured.
Furthermore, the use of the term V-weapons, i.e. revenge weapons, testifies to “a fatal historical ignorance,” said Kiesewetter. “Hitler’s Nazi regime used the V2 as a terror weapon against civilian targets in major cities such as London or Antwerp.” Leopard tanks, on the other hand, could be used lawfully and legitimately as a joint European initiative “against Russian aggression, which violates international law, on primarily civilian targets in the Ukraine ‘ said Kiesewetter, referring to a suggestion by SPD foreign policy expert Michael Roth.
In addition, all experts would say that main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles would strengthen Ukraine militarily in order to restore its territorial integrity. “Schmidt not only confuses cause and effect, but also plays down Russia’s terrible war against the Ukrainian civilian population and discredits Germany’s reputation. Chancellor Merkel would have recalled a chancellery minister with such statements.”
Other statements by Schmidt also seem strange: the discussion was about whether and, if so, how Germany can play a leading role in international politics. In this role, Germany is still in its “teenage years”. We are not adults yet when it comes to security policy. When the presenters asked him what exactly he meant by that, Schmidt said that as a teenager you have “a lot of hormones”, there is a lot of “exaggeration, screaming” and you are not sure of yourself. The presenter asked whether Germany was in this situation, to which Schmidt said yes.
He understands the criticism of Germany’s Russia policy to date, but Germany’s role is also to hold Europe together. He gave the example of Hungary, which has a different view of Russia than countries like Poland. Schmidt’s statements were picked up internationally, for example by the renowned British “Guardian”.
