Defense Minister Pistorius announced the inventory of the Leopard 2 main battle tanks.
Allegedly, Christine Lambrecht prevented the tanks from being counted.
A list that emerged raises questions.
Munich - The question of whether Germany will send Leopard-2 main battle tanks to Ukraine remains unresolved.
On Friday (January 20), the Ukraine Contact Group met at the US Ramstein Air Base to discuss supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia.
The new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has arranged for an examination of the stocks of Leopard tanks.
Apparently, his predecessor Christine Lambrecht (SPD) did not allow such an inventory, as sources from the Ministry of Defense
told
Business Insider .
But according to
Spiegel
, the existence of the tanks has been clear since early summer 2022.
War in Ukraine: Lambrecht is said to have prevented the inventory of Leopard 2
Ukraine is still waiting for a response from the federal government.
But this is still being delayed.
Pistorius announced on Friday that he would have the stocks of Leopard tanks in Germany checked.
Lambrecht is said to have not allowed the inventory of Leopard 1 and 2 tanks even before her resignation.
This was reported by
Business Insider
, citing statements from several Department of Defense sources.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense had proposed such a count itself in Lambrecht's time.
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Handover of office: Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in conversation with his predecessor Christine Lambrecht.
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
The reason for the missing count?
Allegedly, this should protect Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
Because an inventory of the main battle tanks would have put him under additional pressure in the delivery decision.
If it had come out that such a count was taking place, it would have signaled the German government's willingness to deliver the tanks to Ukraine.
To avoid this impression, there was no count, as the Ministry of Defense is said to say.
If this calculation were to be correct, it would be a situation in which the former defense minister would have gotten herself into another situation that required explanation.
Scholz would also have to explain the late count of the tanks.
The existence of the Leopard 2 tanks has apparently been known since early summer 2022
But the
mirror
is said to have a detailed list of the various Leopard models that would be suitable for Ukraine.
Accordingly, the Bundeswehr should have a total of 312 different Leopard 2 tanks.
However, in May 2022 there were a total of 99 pieces for maintenance and repair work in the defense industry.
This reduces the proportion of available tanks to 212. Various models such as 2A5, 2A6, 2A7 and 2A7V are listed, which is considered the most modern version of the weapon system.
According to Bundeswehr insiders, the delivery of 19 Leopard 2A5 models would be conceivable.
The Bundeswehr can best do without these, since the tanks are only used for training purposes.
The emergence of this list raises many questions and could put further pressure on Pistorius and the German government to deliver the tanks to Ukraine as soon as possible.
Ukraine has been asking Germany for months to supply Leopard 2 tanks.
Not only Ukraine and its allies are annoyed by the long response times.
The opposition is indignant and displeasure is also growing at the traffic lights.
Above all, the chairwoman of the defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), who said in a ZDF interview that Germany "unfortunately just failed" in Ramstein.
(vk)
List of rubrics: © Michael Kappeler/dpa
