Switzerland approves sale of 25 Leopard 2s to Germany with condition that they not be transferred to Ukraine
Pravda Ukraine
The Swiss parliament has authorised the army to write off 25 Leopard 2 tanks on the condition that the tanks be sold back to the German manufacturer.
Source: Swissinfo reports about this, European Pravda writes
Details: The upper house of the parliament passed the decision by 25 votes for, 15 against and 3 abstentions. The National Assembly (lower house) approved decommissioning the tanks in June. The decision on the actual resale and its terms must now be made by the Federal Council (government).
In February, the German government asked Switzerland to buy back part of the decommissioned tanks of the German company Rheinmetall.
As the Federal Council reports, Berlin assured that if Switzerland votes “for”, the tanks will not reach Ukraine. Instead, the tanks will remain in Germany or other EU or NATO countries and fill gaps in their arsenals.
It should be noted that in June, the Swiss government rejected a request by Swiss defence company RUAG to re-export 96 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine that were supposed to be delivered to Ukraine after refurbishment in Germany.
Switzerland is criticised for prohibiting other states from transferring weapons produced there to Kyiv for reasons of neutrality. In particular, this has happened with Germany, which could not supply Ukraine with ammunition for Gepard self-propelled guns, but eventually established their production inside the country.
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