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Tank debate: Mölling expects massive damage for Germany

Tank debate: Mölling expects massive damage for Germany

Security expert Christian Mölling fears that the long debate about the delivery of battle tanks to Ukraine will cause massive damage to Germany: “We will lose influence and power. It’s not just about our reputation.”

Security expert Christian Mölling expects that the long debate about the delivery of battle tanks to Ukraine will cause massive damage to Germany. Mölling said about the long hesitation of the federal government on Friday in star– “Ukraine – the situation”: “We will lose influence and power because we behaved this way. It’s not just about our reputation.” The conflict with the partners will have “massive consequences for the enforcement of our interests”. According to the research director of the German Society for Foreign Relations, Germany’s relationship with its most important partners is in tatters. The Americans are “deeply annoyed” by the behavior of the Germans. “I’m very excited to see where this ends,” said Mölling. He also sees major upheavals in Europe. “We are now facing a situation where Germany can no longer get along with its partners,” he complained. “We’re looking east, to Warsaw – that’s not working. We’re looking west, to France – this relationship is so bad.” This leads to the question: “How does Germany want to create security in Europe if it alienates all its partners?”

“Slap in the face” of partners

Moelling said the ultimate issue in supplying Leopard tanks is how far Germany is willing to go to support Ukraine. This German debate has been internationalized in recent days. “Suddenly the European and transatlantic community agrees and says: Now it’s time to deliver the tanks.” The threat by the Poles to send Leopard tanks to the Ukraine, if necessary without Germany’s actually required consent, shows “how bad the options that are now in the room are.” As evidence of the problems with the partners, he also cited the debate about armored personnel carriers. Here, too, “the USA had to join in and say: Okay, we’ll build you a bridge, Olaf, so that you can deliver”. The expert described this as a “slap in the face to other partners – it obviously means that Europeans are not considered partners”. This is a “double standard”: “On the one hand we want to make it more European, on the other hand nothing works without the Americans at the moment. It doesn’t go together.”

Tank debate: Ukraine war must take precedence

Mölling dismissed fears that the arms deliveries to Ukraine could weaken the already ailing Bundeswehr too much. “The real war today and the possible war tomorrow are linked,” he said. A victory for Ukraine is the best prerequisite “so that we don’t have to fight Russia’s next war against a NATO state”. Basically, there are several lines of defense against the imperialist power of Russia; Ukraine is one of them – “after that comes Warsaw and then comes Berlin”. The security of Europe is at stake. Because: “Putin’s goal isn’t just to smash Ukraine.” When asked whether the tank debate would be followed by another debate about combat aircraft, Mölling said that it doesn’t matter whether a weapon system drives, swims or flies, but “what determines victory or defeat in the conventional field”.

Source: Stern

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