German Chancellor Olaf Scholz talks to German army Bundeswehr soldiers at a “Leopard 2” main battle tank in Ostenholz, Germany, Oct. 17, 2022.
Photo:
Moritz Frankenberg/Associated Press
Leave it to
Olaf Scholz
to do the right thing on Ukraine—after he’s exhausted all other possibilities. The German Chancellor on Wednesday finally announced Germany will send 14 Leopard-2 battle tanks to Ukraine, after weeks of desperate pleas from Kyiv and mounting pressure from Berlin’s Western allies.
Mr. Scholz also said he will issue the necessary permits for other countries, notably Poland, Finland and Spain, to re-export some of their Leopards. This will help Kyiv as it prepares for an expected spring offensive as Russia’s invasion enters a second year—one reason Ukraine has been asking for battle tanks for months.
The belated decision overcomes what was a growing fissure in the NATO coalition aiding Ukraine. Poland applied for export permission while threatening to send some of its Leopard tanks without Berlin’s approval. The U.K. had already announced it is sending 14 Challenger tanks, and other European countries are eager to do the same. Germany risked becoming a pacifist European outlier.
Mr. Scholz’s move also calms a political uproar inside Germany as leaders in every other mainstream party, most in the media, and some members of Mr. Scholz’s own Social Democrats (SPD) demanded Leopard shipments. Alas, this probably isn’t the end of German dithering on aiding Ukraine. Despite promising a strategic turning point last February, Mr. Scholz resisted sending Cheetah anti-aircraft tanks last year, and he has hemmed and hawed over other military aid before ponying up.
This often results from divisions in the SPD, where a vocal Russophile wing seems to worry that supporting Ukraine too vigorously could provoke Russian President
into some new escalation or even a nuclear attack. Bluster…
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