Germany wants to deliver the weapons to Ukraine by March.
(Photo: AP)
Athens, Berlin Greece is apparently supposed to help with the promise of the federal government to deliver around 40 Marder-type armored personnel carriers to Ukraine by the end of March. Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) hopes that some of the martens that Germany had promised the Greek army as part of a ring exchange can be delivered to Ukraine. Greece should then be supplied as soon as the industry has repaired more tanks.
Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said he spoke to Lambrecht on Monday. It was also about the ring exchange. Panagiotopoulos did not give any details.
The government in Athens had agreed to deliver Soviet-era BMP-1 armored personnel carriers to the Ukraine in exchange for 40 Marders from Germany.
Of these, 14 tanks have been delivered so far, which the manufacturer Rheinmetall has repaired. Six more martens are expected in Greece “soon”. Lambrecht is said to have made a corresponding commitment, according to Athens. In return, Greece has already delivered 20 BMP-1 from its own stocks to Ukraine.
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It is now unclear what will happen to the 20 other martens that Greece expects in the spring. Then Athens also wants to deliver 20 more BMP-1 to Ukraine. The reason for the phone call between Panagiotopoulos and Lambrecht was apparently annoyance in Athens about the pending delivery of the six tanks.
Delayed delivery?
Because the ring exchange agreement between Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressly provided that the BMP-1 be replaced one-to-one.
The defense minister wants to hand over as few Marder tanks from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine as possible.
(Photo: dpa)
Apparently, the six copies were initially held back by the supplier Rheinmetall on instructions from Berlin. Lambrecht has now promised to deliver the tanks quickly, according to military circles here.
However, if Greece agrees to be late in receiving the 20 remaining tanks, Lambrecht would have to muster fewer Marders from the Bundeswehr. According to the federal government, the German armed forces currently still have 374 tanks of the type, many of which are only suitable as spare parts stores.
The more modern variants are also currently needed so that Germany can assume its leadership role within the framework of the NATO Rapid Reaction Force (VJTF). After a series of breakdowns in the successor model Puma, the Ministry of Defense decided to use the Marder for VJTF tasks until further notice.
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Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit explained at the end of last week that the ring exchange was firmly agreed: “You don’t bring back a device that you brought to Greece.” come.
Further ring exchanges with Bulgaria and Cyprus possible
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said on Monday that existing agreements with international partners would be honored. But perhaps in one or the other conversation there would still be opportunities to deliver Marder to the Ukraine that do not only come from Bundeswehr stocks.
The international partners can actually only mean Greece. An exchange of rings was originally agreed with Slovenia in the spring, which provided for the delivery of Marder tanks. In the meantime, the Slovenian army has received 40 modern military trucks from the manufacturer Rheinmetall in exchange for the delivery of 28 M55-S battle tanks to Ukraine.
>> Read here: Rheinmetall makes record profits in 2022 – misses sales target
As the Handelsblatt also learned from armaments circles, further ring exchange deals with Bulgaria and Cyprus are also being discussed. Both countries are to receive Fuchs armored personnel carriers from Germany for the sale of military material from their own stocks.
More: EU column: As long as Lambrecht is in office, the turning point will remain without a bang