He had doubts for a long time, but now he is calling for Chancellor Scholz to call on allies at the Munich Security Conference to supply battle tanks to Ukraine. Support must also be designed in such a way that it can be sustained for a long time.
At the start of the 59th Munich Security Conference, Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Germany’s partners to supply battle tanks to Ukraine. In Munich, too, he would “intensely” promote “that everyone who can supply such battle tanks actually do so,” said the SPD politician in his speech at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. Germany will help “make this decision easier for our partners”, for example by training Ukrainian soldiers or by providing support with supplies and logistics.
At the end of January, Germany had set itself the goal of making an entire battalion with 30 to 31 main battle tanks available to Ukraine. 14 of them are said to come from Bundeswehr stocks, for the remaining tanks Berlin is waiting for commitments from the allies.
Scholz emphasized that Germany will continue to coordinate all important steps closely with its alliance partners in the future. It is “caution before rush job, cohesion before solo performance,” said the Chancellor. In addition, the support for Ukraine must be designed in such a way “that we can keep it up for a long time”.
The Ukrainians defended their freedom “with great sacrifices and with absolutely impressive determination,” said Scholz. “And we support them – as extensively and as long as necessary.”
Scholz also reaffirmed the goal of increasing German defense spending “permanently to two percent of gross domestic product”. Germany is “putting an end to the neglect of the Bundeswehr,” he said. The federal government has “laid the foundation for this” with the special fund of 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr.
The Munich Security Conference will take place in the Bavarian capital from today, Friday to Sunday. It is marked by the Ukraine war. More than 150 high-ranking government officials from around the world are taking part in this year’s meeting, including French President Emmanuel Macron and US Vice President Kamala Harris.
