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Opinion | Germany’s U-turn on tanks comes just in time for Ukraine, but much too late for Nato allies
- Germany’s leader Olaf Scholz has long resisted calls for the country to provide Ukraine with more military support, citing the risk of escalation
- An about-face was inevitable given the hollowness of this excuse, but the delay has hurt Scholz’s leadership and Germany’s reputation
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After months of reluctance, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz finally agreed to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. While the decision will change the war’s trajectory, the damage for Germany has already been done. Once again, Berlin has shown that the gap between aspirations and reality for European leadership has yet to be bridged.
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The war in Ukraine has been raging for almost a year. In the ever-changing environment, one constant has prevailed: Germany’s presence as an albatross around the Western alliance’s neck over whether Ukraine should be provided with the best possible opportunity to withstand and, ideally, win against Russia.
The irony is palpable. Germany has been outsourcing its own security to Washington for decades. The fact that the last defence minister with any prior experience on the matter was in office in the 1980s only underscores this argument.
With Germany supposed to contribute to Ukraine beyond humanitarian efforts, Scholz made it unequivocally clear that solidarity, in the end, is a one-way street. The risk of “escalation” was the excuse he used most.
However, it was never a plausible motive. Thus far, Putin has not waited for the West to escalate. His aggression, the bombing of civilian targets, and the butcherings in Bucha are exhibits a, b, and c.
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Conversations about increased help for Ukraine in Berlin, Washington or Paris were never the reason for these atrocities. Those who negate this reality are not only scaremongering but useful for Russian propagandists.
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