BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The Ministry of Defense in Berlin has countered the impression that Germany is blocking Dutch participation in tank deliveries to Ukraine. “I am not aware that there was an official request that would then have been rejected by the federal government,” said a spokeswoman for the German Press Agency in Berlin on Friday.
The day before, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren told parliament that the 18 Leopard 2 tanks the Netherlands is leasing from Germany would not be made available to Ukraine, the ANP news agency reported. The German government decided that.
The Netherlands had previously considered buying the Leopard 2 tanks from Germany and donating them to Ukraine. According to information from the German Press Agency, the Dutch military strongly opposed this step and then changed course. However, the Netherlands, together with Germany and Denmark, are financially and personally involved in the delivery of around 100 Leopard 1A5./cn/DP/mis model tanks