Kramp-karrenbauer does not rule out hormus mission
Defense minister annegret kramp-karrenbauer (CDU) does not rule out in principle the participation of the german armed forces in a european protection mission for merchant ships in the strait of hormus.
However, she stressed during a visit to the operations command in geltow near potsdam that there is as yet neither a request nor a concrete picture of how such an operation would be designed. Regarding the anti-IS mission in syria and iraq, which is controversial within the coalition, the minister said that the mission is still considered "absolutely necessary" at present. In august, she plans to visit the soldiers involved in the operation.
This will be their first troop visit abroad. Only a few hours after being sworn into office in the bundestag, the CDU chairwoman had already made her first visit to a barracks in germany – to the sergeant-at-arms and non-commissioned officer battalion in celle. On thursday, she flew by helicopter from berlin’s bendlerblock to the operations command just 35 kilometers away at the gates of berlin.
All 14 foreign deployments of the bundeswehr with around 4,000 soldiers are managed from there. From the operations center, the new commander-in-chief of the bundeswehr conferred by video link with the commanders of the german soldiers in erbil in northern iraq, in masar-i-sharif in afghanistan and in gao in mali.
Discussions are currently underway about whether another appointment could be made soon. Great britain has suggested a european military mission in the strait of hormus after a british tanker was detained in the strategically important strait by iranian revolutionary guards. The discussion is still going on. Options range from a pure observation mission to military escorts for the merchant ships.
The USA is planning a separate protection mission, which the europeans deliberately do not want to join. Reason: U.S. President donald trump is pursuing a strategy of maximum pressure in the conflict with iran, while the europeans are focusing on de-escalation and also want to stick to the once-negotiated nuclear agreement with iran – from which the u.S. Has long since pulled out.
The fact that the basic law only permits foreign deployments in a collective security system makes german participation even more difficult. To this end, the european union, the united nations and nato are paying. Whether a loose coalition of states can also be paid is legally disputed.
Kramp-karrenbauer stressed that it was now "primarily a matter of diplomacy and not of concrete military achievements. However, it also said that any inquiry must be answered "from the very concrete situation and weighing all the issues. "We can only talk about it and decide when we know what exactly is planned." It thus rejects a blanket rejection of military participation in a gulf mission.
Kramp-karrenbauer also spoke about the issue in an initial telephone conversation with the new U.S. Secretary of defense mark esper. They then said the U.S. Was aware of the risk of escalation and was interested in negotiation. A concrete participation of germany in a protection mission has not been requested by esper.
For kramp-karrenbauer, the most sensitive ongoing mission is the anti-IS mission, in which 440 german soldiers are participating. Tornado" reconnaissance aircraft and a tanker are stationed in jordan, and military trainers in iraq. After kramp-karrenbauer was sworn in, the acting head of the SPD parliamentary group, rolf mutzenich, made it clear once again that he was against an extension.
Kramp-karrenbauer reacted to this in the mission command by referring to a statement made by aubenminister heiko maas during a visit to iraq in june. The SPD politician had said in baghdad at the time: "in any case, the mandate (…) are still absolutely indispensable at the moment to prevent the IS from building up new structures underground and thus being put in a position to continue to operate."The CDU leader emphasized that she "expressly" agreed with the assessment of the minister.
For years, the IS had controlled large parts of syria and iraq. In march, the last IS bastion of baghus in eastern syria was declared liberated. However, the anti-IS coalition, which includes some 60 countries, believes that thousands of fighters are still in the region and could continue their terror from underground.
In the video link, kramp-karrenbauer asked the soldiers in erbil what they had on their "wish list" for their visit in august. The answer was: "clarity about the mandate"."
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