Switzerland will be able to resell 25 Leopard 2 tanks, currently out of service, to Germany, but Berlin will not be able to send them to Ukraine, after a vote in Parliament.
Swiss senators validated the sale proposal presented by the lower house in June, by 23 votes in favor, 18 against and 2 abstentions, during the debate on military credits, the Swiss press agency Keystone-ATS reported.
The Swiss army has 134 Leopard 2s in service, which were modernized within the framework of the 2006 weapons program. But it has also had another 96 Leopard 2s in storage for years that are periodically tested but have not been modernized.
On February 23, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Economy Minister Robert Habeck wrote to the Swiss Defense Minister asking her to kindly resell these decommissioned tanks to Rheinmetall, the German company that manufactured them. .
Neutrality is debated
Since Switzerland prohibits, in the name of its neutrality, the transfer of military material to a country at war, Berlin has committed not to transfer it to Ukraine, but to keep it for Germany or other NATO or EU partners who wish to Complete your own weapons.
In May, the Federal Council (Swiss Government) supported a proposal by the Security Policy Committee of the Lower House of Parliament to dismantle 25 of these Leopard 2 tanks. The government then explained that the army only needs 71 tanks of the 96 who are immobilized.
Swiss neutrality has sparked numerous debates in the Alpine country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. If Switzerland – which is not part of the European Union – has adopted all the sanctions introduced against Russia by Brussels, on the other hand, it has has been inflexible regarding its military neutrality.
Source: BFM TV
