Ukraine Crisis Spreads German Weapons Around Europe

Germany has avoided arming Ukraine directly with lethal weapons. Instead it has armed other Western nations that could then arm Ukraine. Deutsche Welle investigated this project recently. Here is what it found:

• Poland was in negotiations with Germany, but was increasingly furious about Germany’s halfhearted approach. It rejected the deal and chose to support Ukraine alone.
• Slovakia delivered an air defense system and 30 battle tanks to Ukraine and received the German-Dutch Patriot defense system and 15 German Leopard tanks in exchange.
• The Czech Republic delivered 40 tanks and received 14 from Germany in return.
• Slovenia delivered 28 tanks to Ukraine at the end of October and received 43 German military transport vehicles.
• Greece has been promised 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles from Germany for sending 40 Soviet-designed battle tanks to Ukraine.

A changing attitude: Germany’s attitude toward being a military power is changing—but not to help Ukraine. Germany has pledged to dramatically boost its military budget with €100 billion. This comes in addition to its pledge to arm its neighbors.

Germany is using the Ukraine crisis to expand its military influence around Europe. We have long forecast that Germany will rise again and dominate Europe. To understand, read “Rising From the German Underground.”