It will very soon turn out that German and American battle tanks will go to war against Russian soldiers. Since 1945 this thought was unthinkable. Tanks were parked almost everywhere, mainly in garages, and soldiers practiced scenarios in the cramped steel colossuses that no one actually believed in anymore.
tank war? Over. If anything, then wars would be waged digitally today. But tank battles? They belonged in the history books in Europe.
After much hesitation and procrastination, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has now apparently made up his mind: Germany is sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Some European countries will go along with it, especially Poland.
No going it alone
Scholz had a clear condition for the tank delivery. It has to be broadly based, the Americans should be on board. Scholz – and many in his SPD – wanted to avoid going it alone. Germany should never be perceived as a party to the war – certainly not against Russia. Also with a view to Hitler’s criminal war from 1939 to 1945 against the Red Army, against all of mankind, against humanity in general.
Scholz wanted the big alliance – and it looks like he’s getting it now. The US will participate and send Abrams tanks. The western world against warmonger Putin.
Loud was the shouting, the demands to move forward at last. The calls came from abroad, mainly from Poland and the Baltic States. Countries that are close neighbors of the war and are therefore in great fear.
The calls came from the opposition, of course, but also from within the traffic light coalition. Greens and the FDP attacked the chancellor sharply.
A smart move
But Scholz remained firm. The Americans have to be on board – otherwise nothing works. This attitude will soon prove to be a smart move.
It has to be said: Scholz has shown leadership. Putin is apparently planning a spring offensive, it could be terrible and bloody, even more terrible and bloody than before.
At the same time, Scholz didn’t leave those who didn’t want any tanks out in the cold. In his SPD, especially in the peace-moving wing, it will still take a lot of persuasion. Because the situation is not that clear either in his own party or in the population. In surveys, around half of the Germans say they don’t want to supply any tanks at all. Germany should stay away from the battlefields.
Nobody knows whether the tanks will actually help Ukraine to victory. But Scholz can hardly be accused of not having tried everything to help Ukraine together with the partners from the EU and NATO.
At least as long as the next demand is not on the table: that for combat aircraft.