Germany is talking about an imminent withdrawal of American troops, but the fact that Washington no longer wants to send cruise missiles is hitting Europe even harder.
May 5, 2026, 10:07 p.mMay 5, 2026, 10:07 p.m
Hansjörg Friedrich Müller, Berlin / ch media
Olaf Scholz was not considered a far-sighted military politician during his time in office. After the Russian attack on Ukraine at the beginning of 2022, the then German Chancellor recognized a “turning point” and hastily announced a major rearmament program, but then, according to widespread criticism, many things were tackled too timidly.
However, the Social Democrat achieved a success in arms policy in July 2024. At that time, he and the then American President Joe Biden announced the temporary stationing of American medium-range “Tomahawk” missiles in Germany at a NATO summit in Washington; from 2026 these should be relocated to Europe. In his homeland, Scholz surprised friends and foes alike.
When the transatlantic relationship was still somewhat in order: Former German Chancellor Scholz and the then US President Biden in 2022.Image: keystone
Russia has stationed long-range missiles in Kaliningrad
The Chancellor, who as a young socialist in the 1980s had demonstrated against the stationing of American Pershing missiles and who seemed to fear nothing more in the Ukraine war than the delivery of long-range weapons to Kiev, now wanted to bring equipment to Germany that could fly 2,500 kilometers and thus reach Moscow.
As it became known at the end of last week, Scholz’s plan could fall apart: The Chancellor pushed through the agreement with Biden so quickly because he feared that Donald Trump would return to the White House. This occurred in January 2025, and last week Trump announced that he would forego the planned “Tomahawk” deployment. The reason for this is probably the war against Iran, in which the Americans are said to have already fired over 800 “Tomahawks”.
There is nothing left for Germany: a “Tomahawk” cruise missile is fired from the American guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (photo from February 28).Image: keystone
This puts Germany and Europe in a bad position, because the Europeans themselves do not have a comparable system. The German cruise missile “Taurus” only has a range of 500 kilometers; Russia, however, has stationed Iskander missiles in its exclave Kaliningrad, the former East Prussian Königsberg, which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and could reach Berlin and other European capitals. There is no longer a balance of terror in this respect.
German military politicians such as the Social Democrat Siemtje Möller and the Christian Democrat Roderich Kiesewetter consider this to be a bigger problem than the planned troop withdrawal. Germany, France, Italy and Poland also agreed to develop their own systems in the summer of 2024, which should have ranges of well over 1000 kilometers; Great Britain and Sweden later joined.
Will Ukraine help Germany out of trouble?
However, much about this initiative, called the European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA), remains open, including whether it will result in the production of cruise missiles or ballistic missiles. Above all, it is unclear when the European systems will be ready. The SPD military politician Möller thinks, probably until the early 2030s. The Germans actually wanted to bridge the time until then by stationing the “Tomahawk”.
Berlin is now considering closing the gap through cooperation with Ukraine. That would be a special punchline in that Germany does not want to supply Ukraine with “Taurus” missiles.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz justifies this by saying that as part of German-Ukrainian arms cooperation, Kiev itself could produce weapons that could reach targets deep in Russia. Now the question arises as to who needs whose help: Ukraine from Germany or Germany from Ukraine? (fwa)