With their own motion in the Bundestag, the CDU and CSU want to put pressure on the German government to provide Ukraine with much more military support than before.

In the draft of a motion for a resolution, which is available to the FAZ, the Union calls for German arms deliveries to be "immediately and noticeably increased in quantity and quality."

Lorenz Hemicker

Editor in Politics

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According to the will of the Union, the deliveries should also include heavy weapon systems from the Bundeswehr, which the Federal Government has not yet planned.

Battle tanks and armored personnel carriers are mentioned, as are artillery systems.

In addition: Long-range reconnaissance equipment, command and control equipment, protective equipment, means of electronic warfare, rifles, ammunition, anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank weapons - i.e. material that does not fall under "heavy weapons" and parts of which have already been made available to Ukraine.

You could also say: Everything that is somehow superfluous and helps the Ukrainians to fight the Russian aggressors.

In addition to material from the Bundeswehr itself, in its draft application, the Union also urges decisions to be made “immediately” on offers from the armaments industry that could be used to fill gaps that arise in the event that they hand over equipment and weapons to Ukraine.

The government should also decide “immediately” on offers from the armaments industry to deliver material and weapons directly to Ukraine.

Furthermore, the Union is calling for military aid to be coordinated centrally in the Federal Chancellery and for the agency to be set up to be commissioned “immediately” with implementation, a “task force” made up of experts from the Bundeswehr Procurement Office for Ukraine to be formed and for the training of Ukrainian soldiers on the systems to help in cooperation with international partners.

"Germany must now join its allies in the EU and NATO and make a determined contribution to strengthening the Ukrainian self-defense forces - also and especially with "heavy weapons", according to the Union faction.

However, a majority for the application is considered unlikely.

The governing parties want to submit their own application.