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” on the delivery to kyiv of these German-made tanks, said 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.
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 decision (…) depends on many factors and is taken at the chancellery”, underlined the German Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, in an interview on German television ARD, broadcast shortly after the interview with the head of diplomacy. Boris Pistorius, a Social Democrat like Chancellor Scholz, was however not questioned about the declarations of the head of diplomacy.
Fear of military escalation
The German government is under increasing pressure to supply Ukraine with heavy Leopard tanks, which could have a significant impact on the battlefield against Russian troops. “I understood how important these tanks are, we are fully aware of that”added Annalena Baerbock who had recently visited Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine.
Poland and Finland have offered to deliver Leopards that they own, but they need official approval from Berlin for re-export.
Again questioned on the deliveries of Leopard tanks Sunday in Paris, during a press conference alongside Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz was evasive, repeating the need to act in consultation with the allies of Ukraine on arms delivery issues.
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.
The more proactive Greens
This is not the first time that the government’s Green ministers, in particular Annalena Baerbock, have taken a more proactive line than the chancellor on the subject of military support for Ukraine. Several environmentalist figures have insisted in recent weeks that Olaf Scholz approve of tank deliveries to kyiv.
At a meeting on Friday at the US Ramstein base in Germany, Ukraine’s Western allies pushed back on any decision on the matter, angering kyiv, which criticized their “indecision”.
Considerable advantage
Among the Liberals, another partner of the German coalition, the teeth are also gnashing. It would have been “at least just to give the green light to the partners” for deliveries of Leopards from their stockpiles, liberal Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann lamented of Ramstein’s talks. “History is watching us and Germany has unfortunately just failed”judged the chairman of the Bundestag Defense Committee.
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 nearly 200 Leopard 1 type tanks”.
Many European armies have Leopard tanks, a considerable advantage because it could facilitate access to ammunition and spare parts and simplify maintenance, which is demanding for this type of equipment.
“Unacceptable” refusal
On Sunday, the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, once again stepped up to the plate, calling it a“unacceptable” Berlin’s refusal to supply heavy Leopard tanks to kyiv, which insistently demands them when the Russians are on the offensive, in eastern Ukraine in particular.
The foreign ministers of the three Baltic countries had called on Germany on Saturday to deliver ” right now “ Leopard tanks to Ukraine to help stop Russian aggression.