The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Portugal wants to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

2023-02-04T15:43:11.290Z


Will plans to equip Ukraine with two tank battalions fail? So far, there have been hardly any firm delivery commitments from European countries. Portugal has now made a commitment – ​​on one condition.


Enlarge image

Portuguese Army main battle tanks on the banks of the Tagus River in Lisbon (in April 2019)

Photo: Horacio Villalobos/Corbis via Getty Images

Germany, along with other European nations, wants to deliver Leopard 2 weapons systems to Ukraine.

But the project seems to be going slowly.

As SPIEGEL reported on Friday, doubts are growing both in the Chancellery and in the defense department as to whether the plans announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) can still be implemented as planned.

The reason: lack of delivery commitments from other European partners.

more on the subject

Weapons aid for the Ukraine: The chancellor speaks into the conscience of the Panzer partners by Matthias Gebauer, Marina Kormbaki and Gerald Traufetter

After all, the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa has now firmly promised the delivery of Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine.

He left the exact number open.

His country is currently in contact with Germany about the overhaul of Leopard tanks, the Portuguese state news agency Lusa reported on Saturday.

“We are currently working on being able to do without some of our tanks.

I know how many tanks will be sent (by us to Ukraine), but that will only be announced in due course," Costa said during a visit to the Portuguese military mission in the Central African Republic.

As a possible date for the posting, Costa called “by the end of March” on the state TV broadcaster RTP – this is the period announced at European level.

Half of Portugal's Leopard tanks broken

Portugal wants to contribute to the "collective effort to provide Ukraine with the best means of self-defense," Costa said.

However, despite the deliveries of tanks, the Portuguese defense capability must remain guaranteed, also in order to be able to fulfill tasks within the framework of NATO.

Therefore, currently non-operational tanks would need to be repaired to replace operational Leopards to be delivered to Ukraine.

Contacts with Germany are now about "a logistical operation to deliver parts to complete the repair of some of the (combat) vehicles."

The Portuguese Armed Forces have a total of 37 Leopard 2 A6s that were bought used from the Netherlands years ago.

The weekly newspaper "Expresso" reported this week that half of them were defective.

The Ministry of Defense has not yet confirmed a report by the newspaper "Correio da Manhã" from the end of January, according to which Portugal is preparing to deliver four Leopard tanks.

After much hesitation, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced on January 25 that 14 Leopard 2 main battle tanks from Bundeswehr stocks would be delivered to Ukraine.

The German government said the aim was to "quickly put together two tank battalions with Leopard 2 tanks for the Ukraine," together with European partners.

This would be almost 90 tanks by German standards.

jus/dpa/AFP

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2023-02-04

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.