The ring exchange of heavy weapons with German participation is becoming more concrete. Apparently, Slovenia is preparing the delivery of T-72 tanks and is to be compensated for this by Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz continues to be criticized.
For the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine, the federal government is planning a ring exchange via the partner country Slovenia. The NATO ally is to deliver the T-72 main battle tank, which was still developed in the Soviet Union, to Kyiv, as the AFP news agency learned from government circles on Thursday. In return, the Slovenian army is to receive the Marder armored personnel carrier and the Fuchs wheeled armored vehicle from Germany.
Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) announced a ring exchange, but without giving any details. “It’s about tanks, it’s about armored personnel carriers, it’s about different options that individual countries have to give up,” she said on Thursday morning on RTL/ntv’s “Frühstart” program. In addition, Germany will train Ukrainian soldiers on the Panzerhaubitze 2000, she said. “Because we have the know-how to train on it. That’s one way to provide this support,” said Lambrecht.
Delivery in the “next days”
When asked when Ukraine should receive these weapons, she said “the next few days”. All military experts are certain “that the next two weeks will be decisive weeks in Ukraine’s fight against Russia, and we must support this fight.”
Later, Lambrecht referred again to the advantage of the ring exchange variant: “The point is that things can now be done quickly, that weapons are delivered as quickly as possible,” she told journalists. “And that’s just possible with stocks that are available from Eastern European partners from Soviet times.” “No training is required” here, because such a device is already being used in the Ukraine.
The Slovenian Ministry of Defense in Ljubljana did not want to comment on the deal when asked by AFP. It pointed out that confidentiality on this subject had been agreed within NATO. According to information from Slovenian media, Slovenia has 46 T-72 tanks in the Yugoslav variant M-84.
Debate about arms deliveries dominates the political discussion
The question of whether and in what form Germany intends to make heavy weapons available to Ukraine also dominated the political discussion on Thursday. In view of the growing and ever louder criticism of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s groping course, SPD party leader Lars Klingbeil felt compelled to help Scholz. “It is right that in this current situation we have a Chancellor who leads carefully, who thinks things through from the end, who coordinates with international partners,” said Klingbeil on ZDF’s “Morgenmagazin”. There are no simple answers to complex situations.
“I’m glad that we have a chancellor who thinks this through, who discusses it with our partners,” said Klingbeil. Germany has significantly increased deliveries to Ukraine in terms of quality and quantity in recent weeks. “We’re seeing how Russia is changing the way it wages wars. We also have to adjust the issue of arms deliveries,” emphasized the SPD politician.
The accusation: Scholz is trying to maneuver through
Most recently, the voices from other European countries that were harsh on Scholz and his communication style had increased. “Germany or Scholz still doesn’t seem to know what to do now,” writes the Amsterdam daily De Telegraaf in a comment. The “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” analyzes: “If Olaf Scholz does not want to deliver heavy weapons, he should clearly state and justify this. Instead, the chancellor is trying to navigate his way through. You know that from his predecessor, Angela Merkel. Her supposedly far-sighted crisis management was also there in truth, opinion poll-driven muddling through.
The Italian newspaper “La Republica” also refers to Scholz’s predecessor: “In Ukraine, the chancellor takes his time and blocks everything and everyone with the firepower of Europe’s number one economy. And maybe “scholzen” is a relative of “merkeln” , aimed at Angela Merkel at the time.In short, it is the verb of a Germany holding back Europe’s gas embargo and arms supplies to Ukraine, cornerstones of the West’s response to Putin, so as not to harm its own interests.
The Austrian daily “Der Standard” takes a somewhat more cautious view of developments in neighboring Germany: “Anyone who doesn’t admit to being at a loss and insecure, also with regard to the delivery of war equipment, is probably dishonest or fanatical. But if the entire Western leadership were to fall into logic that the solution can only be found in a harder war, there is certainly a risk of not finding possible ways out and of running past them … It’s good if politicians like Scholz keep a cool head.
Opposition gratefully accepts Scholz’s lurching course
For the opposition, the lack of unity within the traffic light coalition is a welcome gift. Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther has positioned himself clearly as a supporter of arms deliveries to Ukraine. “It’s not something that should be examined for a long time,” said Günther in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin” and combined his demand with criticism of the federal government and Chancellor Scholz: He noticed “uncertainty” among the population in Germany about the “very lurching course”. It is “obvious” that the Chancellor “is not leading enough in these really, really difficult times,” Günther continued.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder also criticized the diffuse appearance of Scholz’s government. The federal government needs a clear line on the question of arms deliveries, daily arguing is the wrong way in this situation. Instead, she gives an indecisive picture, which leaves a “strange feeling of instability,” emphasized Söder. “It takes an internationally coordinated approach.” Germany must not lag behind.
Source: Stern
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