Meeting of EU Foreign Ministers: More military aid, tougher sanctions

The EU foreign ministers’ meeting was also dominated by the “Leopard” debate – without bringing the decision that many were calling for. There was agreement on an increase in military aid and on the subject of Iran.

No, this ministerial meeting did not bring the clarity that many had hoped for on the tank issue either. In any case, Annalena Baerbock did not want to repeat her sensational announcement from yesterday. In an interview, the Federal Foreign Minister said that if a partner country wanted to pass on “Leopard” tanks to Ukraine, the federal government would not stand in the way.

Today, Baerbock says rather evasively: Everything must be done to defend Ukraine. “So that Ukraine wins to live in peace and freedom again. Because if she loses this war, then there will be no Ukraine anymore, and that is why it is so important that we as international partners act together in support and the right to self-defense Of Ukraine.”

500 million euros for arms purchases

In the Baltic and Eastern European states in particular, understanding for the German government’s reluctance is – to put it mildly – meanwhile very limited. Even if what Germany has already done to support Ukraine is explicitly acknowledged.

But in the current situation there are simply no longer any good arguments for refusing the delivery of battle tanks – not even the fear of an escalation because Russia is ultimately escalating the war, said Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevics. And he recalled that “Germany, as a leading nation in Europe, also has a special responsibility”.

After all, the foreign ministers have approved a further 500 million euros for arms purchases from the European peace fund for Ukraine. And the “Leopard” tanks will also be rolling soon, at least that’s what chief diplomat Gabrielius Landsbergis from Lithuania believes: He hopes Germany will send them, but unfortunately we’ll have to wait a little longer.

Punitive measures against Tehran tightened

In view of the ongoing violence against peaceful demonstrators and the arbitrary execution of opposition figures in Iran, the ministerial round has again tightened the punitive measures against the leadership in Tehran. The new sanctions list includes around three dozen government representatives and organizations that support the regime. “We are still seeing brutal action in Iran, the Revolutionary Guards are terrorizing their own population every day,” said Baerbock, who, like some of her colleagues, wants to put the Revolutionary Guards on the EU’s terror list.

Whether that will happen is still an open question. According to Brussels, the Iranian elite unit would first have to be convicted of terrorist activities by a national court in Europe. A number of other sanctions are already in place against the Revolutionary Guards and their commanders.

The Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg is already firmly assuming that the EU will soon adopt a new package of sanctions. “Unfortunately, we must continue to tighten the thumbscrews as long as Iran indirectly participates in war crimes by supplying drones and maybe even missiles to Russia,” he said. “And as long as they act against their own people with such brutality.”