English Section

German journalist criticises Berlin’s delay in supplying arms to Ukraine: report

25.05.2022 14:30
A columnist for Germany's Die Welt newspaper has said that the government in Berlin has become "the laughing stock of international politics” over its delay in delivering arms to war-torn Ukraine, according to a Polish news website. 
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.PAP/DPA/Michael Kappeler

Clemens Wergin wrote in his latest column in Die Welt that Berlin’s policy raised the question of “how serious the German government is about helping Ukraine in its fight against Russia,” Poland’s dziennik.pl news website reported.

Wergin said that Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government was "coming up with ever new explanations as to why weapons deliveries are proceeding so slowly,” according to dziennik.pl.

Ukraine has “the soldiers, the skills and the courage” to repel Vladimir Putin’s army, but needs “heavy weapons … and steady supply of ammunition” from the West to succeed, Wergin added, as quoted by dziennik.pl.

Meanwhile, Germany is acting “as if it had all the time in the world” to provide support, the journalist wrote, according to dziennik.pl.

‘Too little, too late’

Wergin said, as quoted by dziennik.pl: “We don’t know for certain if it’s a matter of incompetence or a lack of political will, but the never-ending saga of Berlin’s failure to supply arms to Ukraine is increasingly causing Germany to become the laughing stock of international politics."

Overall, Germany’s Ukraine policy can be summed up as “too little, too late, too much hesitation,” Wergin added, according to dziennik.pl.

‘Germany has disappointed’ allies

Wergin also argued in his piece that "just like during World War II, the Anglo-Saxon world, led by the United States, is acting the fastest, most firmly and comprehensively to defend freedom in Europe,” dziennik.pl reported.

“Meanwhile, Germany, the European Union’s most powerful and economically strongest country… has disappointed" its allies amid the war in Ukraine, Wergin said, according to the Polish website.

(pm/gs)

Source: dziennik.plpolsatnews.pl, welt.de