As the blockade of US aid to Ukraine continues, Germany, as the second largest supporter, is increasingly coming into focus. At the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, Scholz wants to show that the turning point is finally here.
The timing could hardly be better: At the weekend, Olaf Scholz (SPD) warned during his visit to America that US aid for Ukraine would stop. He called Washington’s military aid “indispensable” so that Ukraine can continue to defend its country. Critics accused the Chancellor of hiding behind the USA – Germany could have done more long ago, they said.
Two days later, on Monday afternoon, Scholz stands on a heap of earth in the Lünebürger Heide and digs into it with a spade. Here, in Unterlüß in Lower Saxony, a new Rheinmetall ammunition factory is to be built that will produce 200,000 artillery shells per year. The first floors are expected to roll off the assembly line from 2025, and Rheinmetall plans to invest around 300 million euros in the plant.
Scholz’s visit to the site is therefore of great symbolic importance: In times of shaky aid to Ukraine and an increasingly difficult situation on the battlefield, the German Chancellor wants to send a signal: that the turning point in the arms industry is being implemented, that Germany is supporting Ukraine keeps his word.
Rhetorical tinsel for the arms industry
Next to Scholz in the pile of dirt are Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD), Danish Prime Minister Matte Frederiksen and Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger. The arms contractor had previously praised Chancellor Scholz about the green clover in his speech. In a sonorous voice he explained that the “Lower Saxony plant” that was now being created was a “direct consequence of the turning point”. Papperger called German aid to Ukraine a “historic achievement by our federal government.”
The senior Rheinmetaller sounds like a politician: He talks about his “responsibility” as an arms manufacturer, about the “defense capability of our country” and about the fact that Germany’s word now has weight in the world. Papperger knows how to deal with his government clients.
Chancellor Scholz also doesn’t skimp on rhetorical tinsel: Today is a “very special day” for Unterlüß and the region, for the security of Germany and Europe. “We do not live in times of peace,” said the Chancellor. Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s “imperial ambitions” are “a major threat to the European peace order.” In this situation, the following applies: “If you want peace, you have to successfully deter possible aggressors.”
From Unterlüß to the whole world
Scholz explains that arms production doesn’t work like buying a car. Tanks, howitzers and fighter jets don’t just sit on the shelf. “If nothing has been ordered for years, then nothing will be produced.” It sounds like he’s always known that, just not others. Given the audience, which consists of 50 percent Rheinmetall employees, in reality it is probably the other way around.
The Chancellor praised “how quickly Rheinmetall and other defense industry companies jumped into the breach.” 200,000 artillery shells per year in the planned factory are “impressive,” said Scholz and demands: “We have to move away from manufacturing – towards large-scale production of armaments.”
Politics and the arms industry, finally reliable partners in the changing times? At least that’s how it should work, this signal should come from Unterlüß. And perhaps it is actually the beginning of what Pistorius, who traveled with us – was the only one without his own speech – called “war-ready”: a defensible Bundeswehr that is equipped by an efficient arms industry.
“Russia must fail”
The Chancellor also made a few important points in his speech. He talks about his trip to the USA, where he once again made it clear how important the American contribution is for Ukraine. For weeks, the US Congress, especially the camp of radical Trump Republicans, has been blocking a $60 billion military package for Kiev. The Ukrainian armed forces’ ammunition shortage is now so dire that the Russians are in the process of gaining the upper hand.
US President Joe Biden is doing everything he can to overcome the resistance, assures the Chancellor and urgently warns: “The future of our peace order will be decided in the Ukraine order. Russia must fail.”
