Swiss Commission Recommends Selling 25 Tanks Back To Germany

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Under its neutrality laws and a separate arms embargo, Switzerland is prohibited from sending weapons directly to Ukraine © Keystone / Peter Schneider

Ninety-six Leopard tanks are sitting mothballed in a hall in eastern Switzerland. The security commission of the House of Representatives has voted to decommission 25 of them, thereby enabling their sale back to their German manufacturer.

This content was published on March 29, 2023 March 29, 2023 minutes SRF/ts

• Pусский (ru) швейцария разрешит германии выкупить у нее 25 танков «леопард»?

Switzerland would thus be providing indirect military support to Ukraine for the first time, said commission member Maja Riniker after the vote on Tuesday evening.

+ switzerland's policy of not supplying arms to conflict zones

Switzerland no longer needs these tanks, she added.“If we can help Ukraine indirectly in this way, I believe we also have a responsibility here to make our contribution to the security architecture of Europe,” Riniker told swiss public television, srfexternal link .

The commission wrote in a statementexternal link it was thus acknowledging“that the security situation in Europe has further deteriorated with Russia's military aggression against Ukraine”.

Twenty-five of the 96 decommissioned Leopard tanks are to be taken out of service – the prerequisite for exporting them.

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