War in Ukraine: Poland wants to apply for approval for Leopard delivery

Poland will ask the German government for permission to deliver German-made Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine.

War in Ukraine: Poland wants to apply for approval for Leopard delivery

Poland will ask the German government for permission to deliver German-made Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine. "We will apply for such a permit, but that is a secondary issue," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in Poznań.

Even if Poland ultimately did not get Berlin's approval, they wanted to act within the framework of a small coalition. "If the Germans are not in this coalition, we will still move our tanks to Ukraine together with others," Morawiecki continued.

According to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Germany would not oppose the delivery of Leopard main battle tanks from other countries to Ukraine. "We have not been asked so far and (...) if we were asked, we would not stand in the way of that," the Green politician told the French broadcaster LCI on Sunday evening. Baerbock answered the question of what would happen if Poland delivered Leopard tanks to Ukraine. However, it initially remained unclear whether she actually represented a finally agreed position of the federal government. In order to supply German-made tanks to other countries, approval from the federal government is required.

At the Ukraine conference in Ramstein on Friday, Germany had not yet decided to deliver battle tanks to the war zone, despite considerable pressure from its allies. The federal government has not yet issued any delivery permits to other countries for the tanks produced in Germany.

Poland is putting pressure on its allies in the matter. The week before last, President Andrzej Duda said that Warsaw had already decided to supply Ukraine with 14 Leopard main battle tanks if this were done as part of a coalition. Morawiecki had already announced on Sunday that, if necessary, action would be taken without Berlin's approval.

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