Swiss government greenlights Ruag sale of Leopard tanks to Germany

Ruag MRO may sell Leopard battle tanks to Germany Keystone-SDA

The Swiss defence contractor Ruag MRO is allowed to sell 71 Leopard 1 battle tanks to Germany. However, the tanks may expressly not be sold to Ukraine. This was decided by the federal government on Wednesday.

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The 71 tanks are currently in Italy. Ruag MRO has a total of 96 tanks of this type, which were purchased from the Italian Ministry of Defence in 2016.

In 2023, the Swiss government prohibited the sale of the battle tanks to Germany out of concerns that they would be transferred to Ukraine. Swiss law prohibits the delivery of war materiel to countries involved in armed conflicts.

Ruag MRO therefore applied to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) for a licence for the tank business.

However, no licence is required for this, as the federal government now writes. Germany is one of the countries to which war material can be sold without a licence. However, the tanks may not be exported to Ukraine.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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