Several German parliamentarians supported the idea of using of Western anti-aircraft systems from NATO countries to counter Russian missiles over Ukraine, writes the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Niko Lange, a senior researcher at the Munich Security Conference, previously suggested that NATO shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine using anti-aircraft systems located in Poland or Romania.
Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said that with the help of “cross-border“ air defense Western countries can shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine.
“This will take the burden off Ukrainian air defense and allow it to defend the front,” said the parliamentarian, giving as an example the actions of the American, British and French militaries in repelling an Iranian attack on Israel in April.
This idea was also supported by a number of MPs from the ruling coalition parties. Agnieszka Brugger from the “green“ define as “correct“ to place air defense systems on the borders of Ukraine's neighboring countries to cover its western regions.
„In the long term, the provision of air defense to Ukraine by Poland and Romania should not be ruled out,” said her party member, head of the Bundestag European Policy Committee Anton Hofreiter.
According to him, however, at the moment this idea is “not subject to discussion”, as the priority is the delivery of equipment and ammunition to Ukraine itself.
Deputy Markus Faber from the faction of the Free Democrats (FDP) expressed the opinion that the airspace over the border regions of Ukraine “in principle“ can be protected by air defense systems on NATO territory, while noting that there is already a shortage of launchers and missiles.