In an apparent shift in policy, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that Germany won't block Poland from transferring its German-made Leopard II main battle tanks to Ukraine in its battle against the Russian invaders. Poland, Finland and other allies have been pressing Germany to lift its ban of re-exporting the prized German-made tank to other nations. The Leopard IIs are widely used by our European allies and would help Ukraine defeat an expected Russian attack this spring, and even regain Russian-occupied territories in the east and south.
Baerbock indicated that Poland (and presumably other countries) needed to submit a formal request to the German government, and the ban would be lifted. Germany is also reviewing the state of its own inventory of Leopard II tanks in the event its policy shifts to more robust support of Ukraine for tanks. Poland, in particular, has been very firm in its desire to arm Ukraine with modern, Western-style battle tanks, and said it would provide some of its Leopard IIs even if Germany wanted to block them.
Presumably, the Foreign Minister speaks with the backing of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the German government, which has been stalling on this issue. We shall see soon.
