Germany sends request to Switzerland to buy Leopard 2 tanks

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
3 Mar 2023 21:31

Swiss department of defense has sent a request to Switzerland to purchase a number of Leopard 2 tanks.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, right, sits on a Leopard 2 tank at the Bundeswehr tank battalion 203 at the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks in Augustdorf, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, file)

Swiss Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection, and Sport spokesperson Lorenz Frischknecht revealed that Germany has requested to buy back a number of Leopard 2 tanks from Switzerland.

"Switzerland indeed received an application from Germany for the purchase of Leopard 2 tanks," Frischknecht said in a speech.

Equivocally, Arne Collatz, a spokeswoman for the German Defense Ministry, confirmed that Germany had intentions of buying Leopard 2 combat tanks from Switzerland to accommodate the deficit in Leopard tanks in the arsenal of the german army following the massive outflux of lethal aid from Berlin to Kiev; however, the number of Leopard 2 tanks intended to be purchased is still unknown. Seeming to anticipate any provocative misinterpretation of the purchases, the spokesperson then emphasized that these tanks will not be sent to Ukraine but are rather intended for the German arsenal.

Potential Complications from the Swiss Side

Switzerland is estimated to hold 230 Leopard 2 tanks in its arsenal, of which only 134 are decommissioned with the rest being mothballed but not decommissioned, according to the german news agency DPA.

Swiss law authorizes the selling of decommissioned tanks only with any potential sale deal being conditioned by the parliament's approval.

Back in February, the Swiss Senate’s security policy committee rejected a bill requesting to decommission 30 tanks to sell to Germany.

Werner Salzmann who heads the security policy committee said it was very unlikely for a bill aiming to fulfill the German request will be passed in light of earlier refusal.

Back in January, Germany sent 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after being repeatedly pushed to do so by some of its EU and NATO allies.

The German army has already given up most of its Leopard tanks of older designs and exported them to Turkey, Greece, and Denmark, among other clients.