Suspicious ship searched for Nord Stream explosions

Swiss President expresses skepticism about German tank request

Swiss President Alain Berset has expressed skepticism about a request from Germany to buy back Leopard 2 tanks. There are rules for the non-sale of weapons for which no legal exceptions are possible, Berset said on Tuesday in New York. Although the framework conditions could be changed by Parliament and this is currently being discussed, Berset immediately qualified: “It is absolutely logical that we are absolutely normal in this type of discussion at this moment, but we want to be fairly conservative and moderate on these issues remain.”

Germany had announced that it would sell Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and intends to close material gaps in the Bundeswehr by buying back main battle tanks from Switzerland. A corresponding request was made to the Swiss government. It is not known how many tanks Germany intends to buy. A spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense said that it could be contractually ruled out that the tanks from Switzerland would later be given to Ukraine.

Switzerland has 230 Leopard 2 tanks, of which 134 are in service and 96 are decommissioned. The Ministry of Defense in Bern said the latter were not “decommissioned”. According to Swiss law, only decommissioned material can be sold. Parliament decides whether material is to be decommissioned.


source site-11