Colleagues of Sholtz called for protection of Ukraine’s skies from NATO territory
Members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, which is headed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, express their opinion that Western troops should take part in the defense against Russian airstrikes in Ukraine.
According to Censor.NET, citing European Pravda, this opinion was shared with Spiegel by SPD defence expert Joe Weingarten.
‘In the current military situation, I believe it is necessary and responsible to deploy German anti-aircraft missile troops on NATO territory on the border with Ukraine in order to protect the airspace over Western Ukraine - for example, with the help of Patriot systems,’ Weingarten said in an interview.
‘We have to do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine can withstand a Russian attack,’ added the Social Democrat, a member of the Bundestag's Defence Committee.
According to him, given the massive Russian shelling, it is not enough to supply air defence systems and ammunition to the frontline regions. Ukraine's limited air defence resources could be used more efficiently if NATO countries provided airspace security in the war-torn west of the country.
Weingarten stressed that this does not require the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine.
‘We should campaign for such support and participation from Ukraine's closest neighbours, especially Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary,’ the German politician said.
Involvement of NATO countries in the protection of Ukraine's airspace
As a reminder, members of the German parliament from the government's Greens and Free Democrats, as well as the opposition CDU, have called for NATO air defence systems to shoot down drones over western Ukraine. However, the German government rejected this idea.
In Ukraine, it was stated that Poland is technically capable of closing the skies over the western regions of Ukraine, and that the country has enough long-range Patriot air defence systems to do so, but political will is needed.
