Criticism of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has grown in recent days – Why Germany didn’t finally say ‘yes’ to Leopard – Kyiv annoyed
Germany’s decision yesterday not to give the “green light” for the Leopard mission in Ukraine has caused a headache for Olaf Scholz, who is under fire for Berlin’s stance. At the same time, Kyiv, which was expecting a positive decision, did not hide its displeasure with the decision.
The meeting at the U.S. base in Ramstein, West Germany, aimed at military reinforcements for Ukraine has collapsed for now as Germany made it clear that it would provide tanks after the deal is approved by the allies, but did not give details of when that would happen.
“Indecision is killing more of our people,” said Zelensky’s advisor Mikaylo Podilak.
“You will help Ukraine with the necessary weapons anyway, and realize that there is no other option to end the war except defeat (of Russia). But today’s indecisiveness is killing more of our people. Every day of delay is the death of Ukrainians. Think faster,” he wrote on Twitter.
Earlier, Poland sharply criticized Berlin, stressing – through its foreign ministry – that this reluctance to send weapons to Ukraine was “shocking”.
About 15 European countries want to deliver German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, but they can’t without Berlin’s permission.
Criticism of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has grown in recent days as US and European leaders pressured Berlin to send German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, or at least allow other countries to do so.
Experts estimate there are around 2,000 Leopard tanks in use by 13 countries across Europe and are increasingly seen as vital to Ukraine. However, Berlin refrained from saying yes. Scholz insisted that any such plan would have to be fully coordinated with the entire Western alliance, and German officials said they would not approve the transfer of the Leopards unless the US also agreed to send some of its tanks to Kyiv.
“We weighed the pros and cons of every aspect before making any decision,” said Germany’s new Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukraine will essentially continue to ask the West for Leopard because these deems necessary. “There is no alternative,” he stressed.
Because Germany backed down
For the Scholz administration, however, the tank shipment is seen as a huge step up from the weapons it has delivered so far, CNN reports. He fears that authorizing German tanks against Russia will be seen by Moscow as a major escalation.
Experts believe that this reticence on the part of Scholz is due in part to Berlin’s pragmatic approach to war in general but also to a relatively timid military stance that the country has maintained for decades.
“Germany has been in peacetime for years. We don’t have the process or procurement expertise to do anything at speed right now. The truth is that for decades, we saw our defense budget as a gift to our allies because they thought it was important,” said Christian Mölling, deputy director at the German Council on Foreign Relations.
Last week, Christine Lambrecht resigned as Germany’s defense minister amid criticism over her efforts to modernize the country’s military. Lambrecht struggled to manage the 100 billion euros allocated to her by Soltz last year. The person who can spend that money now is Germany’s new defense minister, Boris Pistorius. The question he and Scholz must answer, however, is how far they are willing to take Germany as a serious military presence in Europe.
“Fire” from the German press
The German press did not hesitate to strongly criticize the attitude of the German government. Bild comments negatively on this development in Rammstein commenting that “politicians all over the world are outraged. They expected a change in Germany’s stance on tanks at the Ramstein meeting. But something like that is far away.”
“Chancellor Soltz is at the center of the furor. EU and NATO partners are disappointed: Germany on the block” it is pointed out.
While people are dying every day in Ukraine, and a major Russian offensive is expected in the spring, Germany is taking pen and paper and taking stock, he concludes.
Die Welt, for its part, called Pistorius a “naked squad leader” as it reported that four of Germany’s six battalions have fewer than ten tanks ready for action, when they should have 264 Leopard 2s.
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