Coalition politicians are also urging hurry to supply arms to Ukraine. “We urgently need to speed up the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine,” Green MP Anton Hofreiter told the news portal “t-online” on Friday. The chairman of the Europe Committee in the Bundestag also campaigned for the delivery of German tanks: “Why don’t we deliver Marder armored personnel carriers?” That had to be clarified, said Hofreiter.
According to SPD information, there is an informal agreement in NATO not to deliver any heavy Western-style battle tanks or armored personnel carriers to Ukraine without prior agreement. The armaments company Rheinmetall had offered to make used Marders available. So far, the federal government has only publicly promised the delivery of Gepard anti-aircraft vehicles and self-propelled howitzers, while Ukraine is also demanding main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers.
There is therefore ongoing criticism from the ranks of the CDU and CSU. “The German government is internationally seen as a hesitant and procrastinator,” said the parliamentary director of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei (CDU), in the “Rheinische Post”.
