Parliament has the final say on whether the tanks can be declared “out of service” and sold to European partners.
Once Switzerland’s defence needs are met, there will be a “certain number of tanks that we will not need and that we can make available if parliament declares them out of service”, Defence Minister Viola Amherd said on Monday.
Last week it was reported that the German Defence Minister and Economics Minister had sent a letter to Amherd on February 23, requesting that Switzerland sell some old tanks back to the German manufacturer Rheinmetall. This would allow the company to replace tanks used by EU and NATO members in Ukraine, but they could also be used for spare parts.
Amherd told Swiss public television, SRF, on Monday that the Czech Republic had made a similar request, but she didn’t offer any details about the request or the number of tanks in question.
The Swiss military currently has 134 Leopard 2 tanks in service and a further 96 in storage that are regularly tested but haven’t been modernised.
The defence ministry did not specify how many tanks Germany requested. Swiss Army chief Thomas Süssli indicated that it was about a dozen and that the Swiss army needed 34 tanks to meet its own security needs.
Switzerland’s strict neutrality rules forbid the transfer of military equipment to a country at war. The German government has assured Switzerland that the tanks will not be re-exported to Ukraine, according to a defence ministry spokesperson.
Discussions on transferring tanks and relaxing rules on the re-export of weapons are currently underway in parliament. The country is increasingly divided on issues concerning exports of weapons and ammunition. Bern has already blocked requests from Germany, Spain and Denmark to allow Swiss-made munitions and military equipment they have previously bought to be re-exported to Ukraine.
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