Is Scholz really the only procrastinator in Europe when it comes to tanks?
Luxembourg is now defending the German chancellor.
An overview.
Brussels/Berlin – Chancellor Olaf Scholz has kept a low profile for days in the debate about the delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Demands from a number of sides to finally agree to the delivery in the Ukraine war seem to leave Scholz cold.
Behavior that earns him a lot of criticism: even the United States seems annoyed by the chancellor's hesitation, the Union is fuming and FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann accuses Scholz of "failing".
However, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn is now protecting the German Chancellor.
Regarding criticism of Scholz at home and abroad, Asselborn said on Monday evening (January 23) in the ZDF “heute-journal”: “The enemy is not Chancellor Scholz, the enemy is called Putin.
And that's what we should focus on."
Main battle tanks for Ukraine: is Scholz the only one hesitating?
Asselborn emphasized that Germany is not as isolated on the battle tank issue in the EU as is sometimes portrayed in the German media.
There are also other "big countries and border countries" that are reluctant to take this step.
Scholz has not yet said yes to the delivery of Leopard tanks that Kyiv has been requesting for months, but he has not said no either.
Here is an
overview of attitudes towards main battle tanks
in other countries:
So far, Great Britain
is the only country that is supplying the Ukrainians with Western-style main battle tanks: 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks are being delivered to Ukraine.
Poland
wants to deliver 14 of the 247 Leopard 2 main battle tanks it has to Ukraine - but needs an export license from the manufacturer country Germany and is putting Scholz under massive pressure.
Finland
also
promised Western tanks to Kiev, including German-made Leopards.
Like Scholz, French
President Emmanuel Macron has not yet decided whether he wants to give up his Leclerc tanks.
The USA
would not mind if the European allies delivered Leopard 2 tanks.
However, they consider their own M1 Abrams to be less suitable for a war mission in the Ukraine for various reasons: high fuel consumption, long transport routes, more complicated supply of spare parts.
They therefore refuse a delivery.
Many EU countries
are still keeping a low profile in the debate: the
Czech Republic
, for example, has only received one Leopard tank from Germany as part of the so-called ring exchange, 13 more are to follow.
The country is unlikely to be interested in handing these over to Ukraine.
Greece
has more Leopard tanks than any other country in Europe: around 350 Leopard 2 and 500 Leopard 1. However, the government in Athens does not want to give up any tanks because it feels threatened by NATO partner Turkey.
Athens therefore prefers to keep a low profile in the discussion about supplying main battle tanks to Ukraine.
Pistorius defends Scholz: German support for Ukraine immense
The new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) also put Scholz's hesitations into perspective when it came to the delivery of battle tanks to Ukraine: Germany was at least in the top group when it came to military support for Ukraine.
"That's going down at the moment in view of the discussion about tank deliveries and tank deployments," he regretted.
SPD foreign politician Ralf Stegner also defended Scholz's communication in the debate.
"It's important when it comes to war and peace that you don't give loud interviews, but that you act sensibly," he said on RTL/ntv's "Frühstart" program.
Many discussions rightly take place behind closed doors.
Stegner emphasized that it was necessary to ensure that Germany did not become a party to the war.
It is not clear whether this will happen with a delivery of battle tanks.
+
The Leopard 2 main battle tank is at the center of discussions about arms deliveries to Ukraine.
© Sven Eckelkamp/imago
Boris Johnson rants about battle tanks: "Guard North Rhine-Westphalia?"
British ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on the other hand, urged Germany to provide battle tanks: "The Ukrainians need hundreds of tanks and they should get them from Americans, Germans, Poles and many others," Johnson wrote in a guest post for the
Daily Mail.
“Where does the western world have to station these tanks at the moment?
To guard North Rhine-Westphalia?
to protect Tennessee?
Roaming through the villages of Wiltshire?'
He is proud that Britain is leading the way again and is supplying 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine.
"Now it is time for others to follow our example."
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
Delivery of Leopard tanks disputed among the German population
A possible delivery of Leopard tanks to the Ukraine is controversial among the German population.
In the current "Deutschlandtrend" for the ARD "Morgenmagazin", 46 percent of those questioned are in favor of it, and almost as many are against it (43 percent).
The remaining eleven percent cannot or do not want to commit themselves.
Especially in eastern Germany, most respondents are against the Leopard delivery (32 to 59 percent).
In the meantime, Poland has now submitted an official application to the German government for permission to supply tanks to Ukraine.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had previously said: "We will not stand by and watch Ukraine bleed dry.
Ukraine and Europe will win this war - with or without Germany.” Russia, on the other hand, warned Germany against supplying main battle tanks and threatened “inevitable” consequences.
(smu with material from AFP and dpa)