Status: 06.01.2023 10:46 a.m
The Ukraine is getting armored personnel carriers and an anti-aircraft battery from Germany: Air Force Inspector Gerhartz speaks of a “strength.” A “very, very late decision,” says Green politician Hofreiter.
The inspector of the air force, Ingo Gerhartz, wants to speed things up after the decision to hand over a “Patriot” air defense system to Ukraine. “Handing over Patriot to Ukraine with training of Ukrainian soldiers as soon as possible, simultaneous deployment in Poland and Slovakia means a tour de force for our troops. But it has to be in these special times!” The Air Force quoted the lieutenant general on Twitter.
According to agreements with the US government, the federal government wants to make several dozen Marder-type armored personnel carriers and a Patriot anti-aircraft battery available, as Washington had promised shortly before Christmas.
Hofreiter: “Very, very late decision”
The Green European politician Anton Hofreiter described the planned “Marder” delivery as “very, very late”. “If these tanks had been delivered earlier, fewer Ukrainian soldiers would have died. You have to say that very clearly,” said the Green politician in a joint statement morning magazine from ARD and ZDF. A European initiative for the delivery of “Leopard 2” is desirable.
The strategy must be that Ukraine is supported with everything it needs on the battlefield, and that includes a lot more. The chairman of the Bundestag’s Europe Committee dismissed the danger that Germany would become a party to the war as a result. “The more clearly we support Ukraine and the more clearly we signal to Putin that we will not let up with this support, the higher the chance that this war will end,” said the Green politician.
“The war will have gone on for a year before Marder is deployed,” Anton Hofreiter, Chairman of the European Committee, on tank deliveries to Ukraine
Morning magazine, January 6th, 2023
Fighter planes and main battle tanks?
Military expert Carlo Masala welcomed the planned delivery of more heavy weapons to Ukraine by Germany, France and the US. “It’s the right decision,” said the political scientist from the Bundeswehr University in Munich to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”. But he also said she should have come earlier. If armored personnel carriers like the “Marder” had already been delivered in the summer, Ukraine would be further along today.
Masala stressed that the “talk” that Russian President Vladimir Putin would escalate the war if certain weapons systems were delivered is now finally off the table. “It also opens the door for other arms shipments. In two months we might be talking about fighter jets and main battle tanks.” However, the deliveries were not decisive for the war, Masala admitted. “But it facilitates Ukrainian counter-offensives in the east and south.”
Strack-Zimmermann: “After the marten comes the leopard”
The chairwoman of the defense committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, explained in the short message service Twitter that it was “a great relief” that “the federal government and especially the chancellery are finally paving the way for tank deliveries. It’s very late, but not too late”.
However, Strack-Zimmermann announced that she would “not give up”: “After the marten comes the leopard,” wrote the defense politician, referring to the German battle tanks of the same name.
at NDR info said Strack-zimmermann, the question now is how many tanks can be delivered and how quickly. “And above all, how quickly Ukrainian soldiers can be trained on it.” At the same time, there should already be training on the “Leopard 2” battle tank. “If this is to be delivered in a second tranche, we won’t lose time again and again.” A plan is also needed for the coming months. “We must not wait for weeks again. This war rages on daily.”
The opposition is also demanding decisions on the delivery of “Leopard 2” tanks. “We see that the Ukrainian soldiers simply need these weapons for self-defense,” said the head of the CSU state group in the Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt, to RTL / ntv. It must now also be decided on the further steps.
Poland welcomes German “Patriot” levy
Poland has welcomed Germany’s plans to hand over a “Patriot” anti-aircraft battery to Ukraine. Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau wrote on Twitter that he was pleased to note this step. “This decision is in line with what Poland had already proposed at the end of November.”
At the time, the government in Warsaw suggested that Germany should relocate several “Patriot” systems offered to Poland to the Ukraine. This had caused severe resentment in Berlin.