In an interview on German public radio Wednesday, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the Bundestag’s defense committee and a member of the Free Democratic Party, a junior partner in Scholz’s coalition, hit back at Mützenich, calling the comment “social democratic appeasement policy that has never gotten us anywhere.”
Amid the feuding, Scholz used his speech in the legislature to signal resolve on the European level, vowing that France, Germany, Poland and other EU nations would “support Ukraine for as long as necessary” while ensuring that “NATO does not become a party to the war.”
EU leaders, he added, “will not accept a dictated peace at the expense of Ukraine.”
Scholz also said that European governments must work more closely to acquire weapons for Ukraine, including by purchasing weapons outside the EU.
Denis Leven is hosted at POLITICO under the EU-funded EU4FreeMedia residency program.
