Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) said in Prague on Tuesday that an agreement to supply tanks to the Czech Republic, which has supplied dozens of T-72 main battle tanks to Ukraine, is nearing completion.

One is "in the finalization phase of the joint contract," Baerbock said at a press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský.

From the point of view of the foreign minister, the planned agreement could serve as a model for ring swap agreements with other countries.

"We have to take a close look at how we can transfer this to other countries so that deliveries can take place quickly," said Baerbock.

Nicholas Zimmerman

Editor in Politics.

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The Czech Ministry of Defense also expressed confidence to the FAZ that an agreement providing for the donation of 15 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks would be implemented "to the satisfaction of both sides".

"We have not experienced any serious obstacles or delays from the German side," said a spokesman.

Demand for direct deliveries to Kyiv

The Czech position thus differs significantly from that of the Polish government, which recently expressed its displeasure at what it saw as an inadequate German offer.

According to Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, Warsaw expects “at least 44 pieces” of Leopard 2A4 tanks to equip a battalion.

The Chair of the Defense Committee of the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), warned Poland on Tuesday against exaggerated expectations when swapping tank rings.

"After all, we can't cut the tanks we want out of our ribs," she told Zeit Online.

The Polish government knows that too.

Czech Foreign Minister Lipavský called the exchange of rings "an important symbol and a concrete project that shows how strong and good mutual relations are".

However, he also said that the Soviet-type weapons supplied to Ukraine were running out and were not of such good quality either.

The Pirate Party politician said he would like the debate in Germany to move in the direction of direct supplies of Western-type weapons.

In this regard, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) said on Tuesday that more heavy weapons had been delivered to Ukraine.

“The promised Mars II multiple rocket launchers and another three self-propelled howitzers 2000 have been delivered.

We keep our word,” said Lambrecht.

Commemoration of German massacre in Lidice

After the joint press conference, Baerbock and Lipavský visited the Lidice Memorial, a few kilometers northwest of Prague.

As an act of revenge for the murder of SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich in Prague on June 4, 1942, German troops committed a massacre on June 10, 1942, in which not only the entire male population over the age of 15 was murdered, but the entire village was destroyed.

The two foreign ministers also signed a work program to expand Czech teaching in schools and universities in Germany and rail traffic between the two countries.

Just last Friday, in a joint statement, the ambassadors of Germany, France, Italy and Spain expressed concern about the government's plans in Prague to abolish compulsory teaching of a second foreign language in Czech schools.

On Tuesday afternoon, Baerbock traveled on to the Slovakian capital, Bratislava.

There the German Foreign Minister met her Slovakian counterpart Ivan Korčok.

Baerbock also visited the integration initiative “Sme Spolu” (“We are together”) in Bratislava, where underage Ukrainian refugees are cared for.