Leopard tank deliveries to Ukraine: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz under pressure
The Leopard 2 tank, during the Eurosatory 2010 show in Villepinte, France.
ERIC PIERMONT / AFP
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4 mins
Germany will not "
oppose
" Poland's desire to deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine, which is insistently demanding them, if Warsaw asks for permission, the head of diplomacy said on Sunday January 22. German, Annalena Baerbock on the French channel LCI.
She thus puts pressure on Chancellor Scholz, who has shown himself to be more reserved on the subject.
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Germany is ready to allow Poland to deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine, which is insisting on them, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Sunday, increasing pressure on the still reluctant Chancellor Olaf Scholz to decide on the matter.
“
If we were asked the question, we would not oppose
” the delivery to Kiev of these German-made tanks, declared the environmental minister, who governs in coalition with the Social Democrats of Olaf Scholz and the Liberals.
"
For the moment, the question has not been asked
" by Poland, required to make an official request to Berlin, said the minister, interviewed in Paris on the French channel LCI.
► To read also: Sixty years of Franco-German friendship: fragile sketch of a common front
The final decision, however, belongs to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has so far refused to comment on the question of these indirect deliveries, just like on that of directly supplying Leopards from German stocks.
The Chancellor, yesterday in Paris, was more vague, assuring however that “
Ukraine must know that we will continue to help it
”, and emphasizing international cooperation.
“
The decision (…) depends on many factors and is taken at the chancellery
”, underlined for his part the new German Minister of Defense,
Boris Pistorius
, in an interview on German television ARD, broadcast shortly after the interview with the head of diplomacy.
Mr. Pistorius, a Social Democrat like Chancellor Scholz, was however not questioned about Mrs. Baerbock's statements.
Pressure from Poland and the Baltic countries
On Sunday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki once again stepped up to the plate, calling
Berlin's refusal to supply Kiev heavy tanks "
unacceptable ".
Poland and Finland have offered to deliver Leopards that they own, but they need official approval from Berlin for re-export.
The foreign ministers of the three Baltic countries had called the day before, on Saturday, Germany to deliver "immediately" Leopard tanks to Ukraine in order to help it stop Russian aggression.
Poland and Finland have offered to deliver Leopards that they own, but they need official approval from Berlin for re-export.
The fear of a military escalation with Moscow and Berlin's reluctance to assume leadership in the Western camp lead, according to analysts, Germany to hesitate on sending these weapons requested by kyiv.
Tensions within Germany's ruling coalition
"
I understood how important these tanks are, we are fully aware of
it," added Ms. Baerbock on LCI, who had recently visited Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine.
It is not the first time that the Green ministers of the government, in particular Ms
Baerbock
, have taken a
more proactive line than the Chancellor
on the subject of military support for Ukraine.
The 40-year-old belongs to the camp of the
Grünen
“realos”, pragmatists, who did not hesitate to support an increase in the budget of the army or coal-fired power stations.
A line to which Joshka Fischer already belonged, the first ecologist foreign minister, who had sent Germany to go to war again,
Among the Liberals, another partner of the German coalition, the teeth are also gnashing.
It would have been "at least fair to give the partners the go-ahead" for deliveries of Leopards from their stockpiles, liberal Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann lamented of Ramstein's talks.
And in the opposition, the conservatives regret the procrastination of the chancellor.
According to the deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Johann Wadephul (CDU), “
German industry can almost immediately deliver almost 200 Leopard 1 type tanks
”.
►
To read also
:
Why Germany still refuses to deliver tanks to Ukraine
(and with AFP)
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