BERLIN, March 5 Leader of the parliamentary faction » Alternative for Germany» (AfD) Tino Krupalla called for the resignation of the head of the German Defense Ministry, Boris Pistorius, after his refusal to fire the officers whose conversation was intercepted by the Russian side.
Earlier, Pistorius said that he signed a decree on Tuesday morning on a disciplinary pre-investigation check of participants in a conversation between high-ranking German officers about possible attacks on the Crimean Bridge using Taurus cruise missiles. At the same time, the minister said that at the moment there are no “personal consequences” on the agenda, adding that unless something worse comes to light, he will not allow his “best officers” to become victims of Russian “games.”
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According to Krupalla, Pistorius thereby “admitted” that it was acceptable for him to think about a possible attack with the help of Taurus. «And this is despite the fact that the Federal Chancellor and the Bundestag rejected this delivery. This allows for two interpretations: either Pistorius is pursuing a policy of escalation towards Russia on his own initiative and contrary to the powers of the Chancellor… Or he is a pawn of the leading NATO powers. In both cases, the Chancellor must to appeal to the federal president to dismiss the minister,” Krupalla said. His quote is provided by the press service of the AfD faction.
The politician added that Pistorius' actions «endanger the security of Germany.»
On March 1, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya media group and RT television channel, published an audio recording and text of negotiations between high-ranking officers of the German Bundeswehr. The conversation included four senior Bundeswehr officials, including the head of the Air Force's operations and exercises department, discussing the possible dispatch of Taurus missiles to Ukraine and the Ukrainian attack on the Crimean Bridge. Among other things, the military is recorded discussing how to install Taurus missiles and train the Ukrainian military to launch missiles across the Crimean Bridge in such a way as not to cross the “red line” and not become obvious participants in the conflict in Ukraine.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the content of the conversation between German officers emphasizes the direct involvement of the West in the conflict around Ukraine. And the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the West must bear responsibility for the destructive actions that it planned and largely implemented.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, in turn, actually confirmed the authenticity of the recording, saying that the reason for the leak of the conversation was an unsecured connection of one of the conference participants. He also said that Russia «for several weeks or even months» sets the agenda in Germany, defining actively discussed topics. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reported that a thorough and intensive investigation is being conducted in connection with the publication of the recording.