Overview

• Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann pressed for sustained heavy weapons deliveries to Ukraine, citing its domestic drone production and urgent defense needs.
• Dietmar Bartsch countered that the conflict can only conclude through diplomatic negotiations and questioned the arbitrariness of a 5 percent NATO defense spending target.
• Both Strack-Zimmermann and Bartsch branded Chancellor Friedrich Merz a “Lügenkanzler” for reversing his stance on Germany’s debt brake and launching a €500 billion defense fund.
• Economist Benjamin Hilgenstock warned that Europe’s continued imports of Russian energy and lack of unified sanction measures allow Moscow to finance its war effort.
• Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann criticized the no-confidence motion against EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as a politically motivated smear with little prospect of success.