Politicalologist Major: “Can’t allow us a German special path”

The security expert Claudia Major sees an evasive maneuver in the debate on the sending of German troops to Ukraine. “We are currently spending a lot of time to discuss the German contribution – whether, for example, German soldiers should be stationed in Poland or in West Ukraine”said the political scientist that star. “I would like us to think about how we can end this war with the same intensity.”

The current debate works “Like a skipping story, of which we have seen many since 2022″said Major: “Because we do not want to or cannot answer the question of what we can do specifically so that there is an armistice at all.”

This Thursday, at the invitation of France’s President Emmanuel Macron “Coalition of Willingen” Among the Europeans to advise on how to give Ukraine security guarantees. Among other things, NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte, the British Premier Keir Strandmer and Friedrich Merz are to take part in the meeting.

On Tuesday, the two -week ultimatum for a meeting between the Russian President was Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj, which Donald Trump had put in the White House after his meeting with Selenskyj and a delegation of Europeans. So far, Trump has not commented on it.

“At the moment I don’t see any signs that Putin gets involved with an armistice or his destinations with a view to the Ukraine and Europe would have changed”said Major, who, as Senior Vice President, heads the Department of Security and Defense Policy at the independent US Think Tank German Marshall Fund. This “But would be the prerequisite”to send European troops to secure such an armistice at all.

It is striking that in most German scenarios to security guarantees that are currently circulating in military circles is not provided to send German troops to Ukraine. Major warned of the idea that Germany could keep up in such a case. “When Friedrich Merz is serious about his leadership role in Europewe cannot allow ourselves a German special path”she said. In addition, it is also in German interest to prevent another Russian attack after a ceasefire.

Even if the population was mostly skeptical of a Bundeswehr deployment in Ukraine, this is not an exclusion criterion: “In the past, it has been shown that if the political leadership was behind the decisions, the population has supported it. But first it takes a guided tour that makes these decisions”said Major. “The appearance of the Federal Chancellor in Washington On the subject of Washington, the government has been bad since then.”

According to a representative survey by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of “Web.de” Currently, 51 percent of Germans speak against German participation in a peace mission in Ukraine. Only 36 percent of the respondents would be for this, 13 percent are undecided.

When it comes to securing a ceasefire, the In the opinion of Politologist Major, the USA and Europe to each other’s responsibility: “The Americans want to see European contributions, the Europeans to provide the Americans’ assurance to provide key skills that lack Europeans, such as enlightenment, target recording, flight and missile defense. And they want a promise that in an emergency, the United States will defend a European coalition of the Willing.”

So far there has been no promise from the American side, said Major. This is a fatal signal for Ukraine: “How do we want to convey to the Ukrainians that we would punish injuries to the ceasefire and credibly guarantee their security?”

Europe, in turn, speeches about so -called security guarantees, criticized Major, but my only training, equipment or smaller stationations. “These are not security guarantees that exist in NATO, for example, but only security support”according to the political scientist.