Berlin Contradicts EU's Solana on Iraq

The German government reiterated it would not send troops to help stabilize Iraq, contradicting EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who said Berlin was no longer opposed helping out militarily.

Germany, one of the staunchest opponents of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, remains steadfast in its refusal to send soldiers to Iraq, despite growing worries amongst the international community that the country is becoming increasingly unstable.

Foto: AP
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana

​​A government spokesman denied Berlin’s position had changed after EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana reportedly said German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was no longer “fundamentally” against sending troops.

“Germany at the moment rejects deploying soldiers to Iraq – but not fundamentally. If NATO is asked by the United Nations to take part in the stabilization of the country, then there is a new question of military engagement for each member of the alliance,” Solana told a German newspaper.

According to the German news agency DPA, the government spokesman said Schröder had made it “very clear” to Solana that Berlin was sticking to previous position against military involvement and that his comments were possibly based on a misunderstanding.

German armed forces stretched thin

The was to oust Iraqi Saddam Hussein caused the worst break between long-time allies Washington in Berlin in decades. This summer, U.S. President George Bush’s icy relations with Schröder finally began to thaw again. But the German leader has rejected a military role in postwar Iraq, saying Berlin’s strapped armed forces were already pushed to the limit with peacekeeping in Afghanistan and anti-terror operations on the Horn of Africa and elsewhere.

Foto: AP
Peace activists protest in Cologne

​​According to a poll undertaken for the 'Der Spiegel' news magazine, Germans remain strongly opposed to getting involved in Iraq. In a survey of 1,000 people, an overwhelming 76 percent were against German military participation even with a U.N. mandate. Only 19 percent of those asked supported sending troops to help the United States.

© Deutsche Welle/DW-WORLD.DE 2003