German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer’s apparent softening of his position on a possible war against Iraq -- made public in a magazine interview published over the weekend -- has unleashed a debate within Fischer’s Green Party in Germany. But on Monday, politicians outside the party were lining up to support him.

"Nobody can predict the German vote at the Security Council," Fischer said in an interview with the newsweekly Der Spiegel, "because nobody knows how and under which circumstances the Security Council will deal with it." The statement comes as Germany prepares to become a non-standing member of the United Nations Security Council on Jan. 1.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, a Social Democrat, called Fischer’s statement and the subsequent reaction in the press "much ado about nothing." Schröder, on a state visit to China, accused the German press of overreacting to Fischer’s statement.

Change of position denied

"Fischer made the position of the German government clear: that we won’t take part in a military action," Schröder told Reuters. "Therefore we can’t speak about a change in German position."

Fischer’s own party, a party founded on the principles of pacifism, was divided on Monday. The party's co-chairs, Krista Sager and Katrin Göring-Eckhardt, backed Fischer and said his statement did not represent a change in the party's position.

"Even if one opposes this war and if one doesn’t take part in it, one still can’t act completely independantly in the Security Council," Sager said in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung.

Sager said Fischer’s statements did not constitute a change of policy. "Fischer just made it clear that he can’t speculate about what might happen sometime under certain conditions," she said.

On Sunday, the SPD's spokesman on foreign affairs and acting chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in parliament, Hans-Ulrich Klose, said he couldn't imagine Germany "pulling back" against a collective decision to act against Iraq on the Security Council. "I can't imagine that happening -- it would be a setback for Germany's position in the world," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.

Criticism from the Greens

But vice chair Hans-Christian Ströbele was openly critical. "We reject war and say no: and we should also do that in the U.N. Security Council," Ströbele said in a radio interview.

A number of other top Green Party members -- including the leader of the party's parliamentary group parliamentary and the party boss in the state of Lower Saxony -- also criticized Fischer.

Social Democratic party boss Franz Müntefering reiterated in a radio interview that Germany would not take part in a war. And as such, he said the government had not changed its stance.

Leaders of the opposition Christian Democrats and Free Democrats, meanwhile, saw Fischer’s statement as a change of position and applauded it.

U.S. and Israel want Germany's support

In recent weeks, it has become increasingly difficult for the German government to maintain its absolute refusal to act against Iraq. In November, both Israel and the United States asked Germany for its support in case of an emergency.

Since then, Berlin has changed its tenor slightly. The government has softened its refusal, saying it will not "actively" participate in a military action. What it will do, however, is allow allies flyover rights and the use of military bases in Germany.

But the diplomatic situation for the federal government could get trickier come January, when a German representative participates in Security Council meetings. Hans Blix, who is heading the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Control Commission in Iraq, has until Jan. 27 to declare whether or not Iraq has fulfilled the tough weapons of mass destructions requirements set forth in U.N. Resolution 1441.

At that point, the Security Council may consider taking military action against Iraq. If it does, Germany could be forced to make a difficult decision. Then, in February, Germany will become chair of the Security Council for a month, making the situation even more challenging.