Political analyst pointed to Merz's attempts to look more decisive than Scholz at the expense of Ukraine

German chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz's harsh statements on the conflict in Ukraine are related to his attempts to look more decisive than incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz before the election. At the same time, Merz's ideas to transfer long-range Taurus missiles to Kiev are viewed negatively by the majority of Germans. This was stated on December 9 in a conversation with "Izvestia" by Evgenia Pimenova, historian, political scientist and Germanist, PhD in history.

Earlier in the day, Merz arrived on an unannounced visit to Kiev. He told reporters that he came to demonstrate that the parliamentary group of his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party strongly supports Ukraine. Scholz also came to Kiev a week ago.

"Of course, this is directly linked to the fact that the election campaign has started in full swing in the FRG. Support for Ukraine is now a key issue for German politicians. And Merz, and a week earlier Scholz, want to demonstrate their involvement in solving this problem, to increase their political weight, to score political points. <...> In the run-up to the elections, it is important for Mertz to show that he is more effective than Scholz in solving international problems," Pimenova commented.

According to her, Mertz, as a potential successor to Scholz, probably came to give Ukrainian politicians some assurances for the future. However, the expert emphasized, there are still debates in Germany about the expediency of supplying Taurus missiles. For Germany, for many reasons, this issue is ambiguous, and it is far from certain that if Merz comes to power, he will not hesitate to send these weapons to Kiev, she said.

She said that according to the latest polls, for example, ARD-trend, 61% of Germans are against the deliveries, while 27% would definitely support sending missiles to Kiev. In the eastern regions of Germany, opposition to the idea of supplying missiles is more pronounced.

"For Merz now it is important not so much to finally resolve the issue of deliveries, but to show himself as a decisive politician against the background of the allegedly hesitant and indecisive Scholz," summarized the political analyst.

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Also on Monday, the media reported that Merz plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term of office expired in May, to understand his strategy regarding the conflict.

Prior to that, on Nov. 12, Merz said that if elected, he might issue an ultimatum to Russia to lift restrictions on the use of cruise missiles transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). However, he later retracted his words on December 3 about an ultimatum to supply Kiev with Taurus missiles and strike Russian President Vladimir Putin with long-range weapons. Then, on November 30, German Chancellor Scholz criticized Merz and stressed that it is not worth playing Russian roulette with Germany's security through Russian Federation ultimatums.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, is ongoing. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the worsening situation in the region.