Poland seeks authorization to send only 14 tanks to Ukraine

Poland asked Germany for authorization to send only 14 Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine to use against the Russians. Berlin, which holds the re-export license for the German model, said it would look into the case quickly.

Warsaw operates 244 such tanks, 97 of them the older A4 model — exactly what it wants to send Kiev. The meager request could be seen as a test of German will, as Prime Minister Olaf Scholz’s government has been postponing a decision on the case for weeks, despite pressure from its NATO allies.

Last Friday (20), the so-called Contact Group, which brings together the 30 countries of NATO plus another 20 allies, discussed the case. Kiev asks for tanks, an offensive weapon so far not provided by the West, to mount attacks against the Russians in the coming months.

President Volodymir Zelensky urged haste, as Moscow has reaped victories in the east and south of the country, something not seen since the middle of last year, and its campaign to degrade the country’s energy infrastructure has taken a toll on the civilian population. On Tuesday (24), he promoted a major purge of authorities in the country, which suggests internal tensions.

Germany says it is ready to collaborate, having signaled that it will release the shipment of its tanks in operation in the allied countries, although it does not say anything about the 376 it has. But the delay in the decision, despite several encouraging statements, suggests that Berlin may stall the partners.

The central reason is the inability to get more involved in the conflict, risking a direct clash between NATO and Moscow, an escalation whose end would be a Third World War. There are domestic factors as well, as the pacifism that guided the country after the disasters of militarism in the two world conflicts of the 20th century is very strong, and the idea of ​​German tanks being used against Russians evokes dark memories.

But everything indicates that in the end Berlin will give in. The question is whether other operators of the approximately 2,300 Leopard-2s in Europe will provide their share to assemble a fleet that will make a difference in the war, starting from the bait thrown by the Poles. The UK has already said it will send 14 Challenger-2 models. Experts say a minimum of 100 tanks would make a difference, and Kiev wants three times as many.

Kiev had nearly 1,000 tanks before the war, and has lost nearly half of that already, according to observable data collected by the Dutch website Oryx. In the first half of 2020, it received 230 old Soviet T-72s from Poland, a model it already operated. In order to use the German and English tanks, a few weeks’ training will be required for the teams.

All this explains the Ukrainian rush. In any case, the West approved a succulent military package at the Friday meeting, with armored infantry, artillery and light tanks. The US alone will give an additional $2.5 billion (R$13 billion) to Kiev, bringing its military donations so far to $26.7 billion (R$139 billion).

But the debate makes the divisions in NATO explicit, even though its secretary general, the Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, said on Tuesday that he expected a “quick solution” to the tank issue.

On another front of friction in the alliance, Finland said this Tuesday that Ankara’s decision on the entry of the Scandinavian country and its neighbor Sweden into NATO should only take place after the parliamentary elections in Turkey – scheduled for June, but which should be brought forward. for April or May.

Here, the problem is the return of Turkish resistance to the Swedish nomination, after Stockholm allowed a protest against the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan full of anti-Islamic gestures on Saturday (21).

The Turkish president said on Monday (23) that Sweden should not expect support from his country after the act. He wants the extradition of up to 130 anti-government activists in the two Nordic countries, whether from the Kurdish minority or supporters of the Muslim cleric who inspired a coup against him in 2016.

So far, the Swedish Supreme Court has barred the extradition of four terrorist suspects by Turkey. The approval of the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments are the only ones missing from NATO for Scandinavians to join NATO.

Erdogan’s blackmail had worked last year, fueled by hopes of seeing opponents extradited and of having its fleet of US F-16 fighters renewed – the country was kicked out of the advanced F-35 program after it decided to buy S-Anti-aircraft systems. 400 from Russia. The second part of the hit seems to be moving forward, but not the first.