Pressure on Germany as Berlin mulls Leopards for Ukraine
As at time of writing, the government of Germany is poised to make arguably one of the most significant export control licensing decisions of this decade: whether to permit the export of its Leopard tanks to Ukraine – or permit the export of such tanks from other European countries – as requested by the Kyiv government.
Ukraine argues that having such tanks in its armoury will greatly enhance its chances of military success in the war with Russia, but some voices within the German government fear that such exports might prove escalatory.
Germany is not the only country capable of producing combat tanks: The UK government has made a commitment to sending ‘a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks with armoured recovery and repair vehicles’ along with other items of materiel.
But the Leopard 2 tanks are regarded as most suitable, given the terrain and conditions. News reports suggest that German officials will only consider the exports if the United States commits to sending a number of its Abrams tanks – a move the US appears reluctant to make, given the complexity of the vehicles, their fuel requirements, and training required to operate them. These issues are scheduled to be addressed at a 19 January meeting of German and US officials.
The legal/policy considerations to the export of the Leopards are also complex. Mareike Heesing and Carsten Bormann, trade lawyers at the Cologne office of German law firm Oppenhoff, told WorldECR:
‘Leopard 2 tanks produced in Germany or with German technology cannot be reexported to Ukraine without the approval of the German Federal Government. According to the Political Principles of the Federal Government for the Export of War Weapons and Other Military Equipment, export licences for war weapons always include strict re-export licence requirements. This also applies to Leopard 2 tanks of German production potentially to be exported from Poland, Finland or Spain to Ukraine. Germany, therefore, has a key role to play at this point in time with regard to support for Ukraine. The pressure is high.’
