- So far, parliament has rejected any military support to Ukraine, no matter how indirect.
- The National Council’s Security Commission is now recommending that 25 Leopard tanks be taken out of service and sold back to Germany.
96 Type 87 Leopard tanks from the Swiss Army are stored and decommissioned in a hall in eastern Switzerland. Some of them are now to be phased out, the responsible committee of the National Council decided today with 17 votes to 7, with one abstention.
“The commission decided today that we will decommission the 25 Leopard tanks in the consultation with the army embassy,” says commission member Maja Riniker (FDP).
Indirect Ukrainian support
For the first time ever, Switzerland would provide Ukraine with indirect military support. “It is of course the case that our country can also make a contribution here,” said the FDP politician.
Switzerland no longer needs these tanks. “If we can help Ukraine indirectly in this way, I believe that we also have a responsibility to make our contribution to the security architecture of Europe,” said Riniker.
The Safety Commission also writes in one communicationthat one recognizes “that the security situation in Europe has further deteriorated with Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine”.
Germany can close its gaps with the purchase
25 of the 96 decommissioned Leopard tanks of the Swiss army are to be definitely retired. And that in turn is the prerequisite for being able to export them.
Legend:
The Ukrainian armed forces received 18 modern Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks from Germany to repel the Russian attack on their country.
KEYSTONE/DPA/Federico Gambarini
However, the commission also proposed, by a vote of 10 to 9 with 6 abstentions, that the tanks could only be decommissioned if they were resold to the manufacturing company.
They would thus be exported to Germany to the manufacturer. In turn, Berlin could use this to fill the gaps in its army that were created by supporting Ukraine with German tanks.
Few dissenting votes
The majority of the Commission emphasizes that the decommissioning and later sale of these tanks will not result in any disadvantages for Switzerland in terms of fully equipping the mechanized units, training and spare parts reserve.
There was resistance on the part of the SVP. “Switzerland does not currently have an up-to-date defense strategy,” says David Zuberbühler. You don’t know today what the army of tomorrow would look like. “That’s why it’s negligent if we now sell our silverware abroad, especially since the Leopard battle tank is one of the best battle tanks in the world.”
Even if the decision was clear today in the commission. Before the 25 Leopard tanks can be retired, the National Council and the Council of States must first agree.