德國同意在重大政策大轉向後向烏克蘭運送重型武器

Recently CNN on-line reported the following:

Germany agrees to send heavy weapons to Ukraine after major policy U-turn

By Ivana Kottasová, Stephanie Halasz and Ulrike Heil, CNN

Updated 1:44 PM ET, Tue April 26, 2022

(CNN) Germany has agreed to deliver anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine, the German Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday, a move that underscores a major shift in its approach to providing military help to Ukraine.

The commitment to deliver the Gepard anti-aircraft systems was announced by defense minister Christine Lambrecht during a meeting of international defense officials at the Ramstein US Air Force base in Germany on Tuesday.

"We decided yesterday that we will support Ukraine with anti-aircraft systems ... which is exactly what Ukraine needs now to secure the airspace from the ground," Lambrecht said during the meeting at the base.

This is significant as it is the first time Germany has agreed to provide this type of heavy weaponry to Ukraine as it fights off the Russian invasion. The Gepard systems were phased out from active duty in Germany in 2010.

Germany initially resisted calls to provide weaponry to Kyiv, agreeing only to provide humanitarian help and medical equipment. That approach was in line with Germany's decades-long policy of not supplying lethal weapons to crisis zone.

Just months before Russian President Vladimir Putin order the invasion into Ukraine, the then new German government agreed to include the restrictive arms export policy into its coalition agreement.

But facing pressure from allies and the German public, the government was forced to overhaul the rules. By late February, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Germany would start delivering some weapons to Ukraine, although at that point he insisted on calling them "defensive."

He also announced Germany would start pumping more money into its own armed forces.

First such investment was publicly confirmed last month when Germany announced it would buy 35 US-made F-35A fighter jets.

Just last week, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said that while "other partners are now providing artillery" to Ukraine, Germany would "help with training and maintenance."

Baerbock said that Germany could not provide further weaponry as the country had no weapons it could "deliver quickly and without delay right now."

She added that Germany had chosen not to make public all the weapons it had previously sent to Ukraine, but said: "We have supplied anti-tank weapons, Stingers [air defense systems] and many other weapons that we haven't spoken about in public," the minister said.

Translation

（美國有線電視新聞網）德國國防部周二宣布，德國已同意向烏克蘭提供防空坦克，此舉突顯了其向烏克蘭提供軍事幫助的方式發生了重大轉變。

國防部長 Christine Lambrecht 宣布交付 Gepard 防空系統的承諾, 是在週二在德國 Ramstein美國空軍基地舉行的國際防務官員會議上宣布的。

Lambrecht在基地的會議上說: “我們昨天決定，將用防空系統支持烏克蘭……這正是烏克蘭現在需要的，以從地面保護領空”。

這有重大意義，因為這是德國首次同意向烏克蘭提供此類重型武器，以對抗俄羅斯的入侵。 Gepard 系統於 2010 年在德國逐步退役。

德國最初拒絕向基輔提供武器的呼籲，只同意提供人道主義援助和醫療設備。這種做法符合德國數十年來不向危機地區提供致命武器的政策。

就在俄羅斯總統普京下令入侵烏克蘭前幾個月，當時的德國新政府同意將限制武器出口政策納入其聯盟協議。

但面對來自盟友和德國公眾的壓力，政府被迫徹底修改規則。到 2 月下旬，德國總理舒爾茨宣布德國將開始向烏克蘭提供一些武器，儘管當時他堅持稱它們是“防禦性的”。

他還宣布德國將開始向自己的武裝部隊注入更多資金。

上個月，當德國宣布將購買 35 架美國製造的 F-35A 戰鬥機時，首次公開確認了此類投資。

就在上週，德國外交部長 Annalena Baerbock 表示，當“其他合作夥伴現在正在向烏克蘭提供火砲” 時，德國將“幫助訓練和维修”。

Baerbock表示，德國無法提供更多武器，因為該國沒有可以“立即迅速交付”的武器。

她補充說，德國選擇不公開它之前已發送給烏克蘭的所有武器，這部長只說：“我們提供了反坦克武器、 Stingers [防空系統] 和許多我們不公開說出的”。

So, in facing pressure from allies and the German public, the German government is forced to overhaul the rules on exporting weapons to Ukraine. This is an important change in policy for the country and is one of the many unexpected outcomes of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Russia’s aggression in Ukraine will impact the future political, military and economic landscapes in Europe.