The Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Defence Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann of the FDP, is calling for a much more resolute approach against Russia, criticizing the German government’s reaction to recent threats emanating from Moscow.
“There is only one answer to brutal Russian behavior: First, continue to support Ukraine with everything we have. Second, strengthen ourselves so much that Lawrow’s threats fall flat,” Strack-Zimmermann told the Handelsblatt. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on Friday that Moscow would significantly intensify its methods to destroy “everything that feeds Kyiv’s war machine from the West.”
Sietmje Möller, Deputy Chairwoman of the SPD parliamentary group, also commented to the Handelsblatt that these threats primarily show “a growing despair of the Russian regime,” driven by the lack of success on the front lines and the numerous drone strikes Ukraine has conducted in the Russian interior, which are seriously impacting the Russian economy. Meanwhile, Russia is continuing to bolster its military capabilities, both in material and personnel, and there is increasing evidence that it is operating hybrid tactics outside its own territory. “We should therefore neither provoke nor allow ourselves to be intimidated by these repeated military threats,” Möller stated.
However, Strack-Zimmermann maintained that the German government’s response to Lavrov was insufficiently strong. She said, “What truly bothers me is this: these are no longer mere threats, they are practically admissions of Russian attacks on German soil. And I wished the German government could have given Lawrow a much clearer message about that.” In her view, instead of a firm stance, there has been “silence where a position should have been taken.”
Looking ahead to the EU External Action Chief Kaja Kallas’s announcement of a comprehensive new sanctions list in the autumn, the FDP politician insisted that Europe must now “go forward, and even more decisively.” This includes implementing sanctions even more rigorously, a suggestion Kallas has also put forth. Strack-Zimmermann concluded, “We must not let ourselves be pressured or become nervous at all.”
