Germany asks Switzerland to greenlight sale of old Leopard tanks

The Swiss military currently has 134 Leopard 2 tanks in service and a further 96 in storage. Keystone / Filip Singer

Germany has asked Switzerland to sell some of its decommissioned Leopard 2 tanks in a deal that would replenish arsenals of countries sending tanks to Ukraine.

The request, which came from the German Defence Minister and Economics Minister to Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd, was first reported by the Swiss newspaper Blick External linkon Friday. The request was made in a letter dated February 23, the paper said.

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Germany wants Switzerland to sell some of the old tanks back to the German manufacturer Rheinmetall, which would allow the company to replace tanks that European Union and NATO members have supplied to Ukraine.

Amherd replied in a letter on March 1 that a possible sale of part of the Swiss tank fleet would require the Swiss parliament to declare the tanks out of service, according to a comment from the Swiss defence ministry sent to Reuters.

“Discussions on this issue are currently under way in parliament,” the defence department spokesperson added. No information was given on when parliament will make a decision but the government said it would comment further on the issue on Monday.

The Swiss military currently has 134 Leopard 2 tanks in service and a further 96 in storage.

Under its neutrality laws and a separate arms embargo, Switzerland is prohibited from sending weapons directly to Ukraine. Bern has previously 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.

However, the Swiss public and politicians are increasingly divided on the issue, as calls from European neighbours for Switzerland to allow exports grow louder and Russia intensifies its assault on Ukraine.

In a press conference on Friday a German defence ministry spokesperson said that the country would not send Leopard 2 tanks onwards to Ukraine if Switzerland agreed to send them as requested by Berlin.

Note: this story was updated to include comments from German defence ministry.